I'm about 2/3 of the way through Silas Marner, and I've fallen in love with George Eliot.The first third of the book was really rough going. I found it to be almost a punishment to read. If I hadn't seen the Steve Martin film version, I don't think that I would have continued to read. I think the only thing that made me continue was the surety that there was happiness ahead. My hopes were well placed, once Marner meets Eppie, the book blossoms into joy.
On reflection, I understand why this is assigned reading in high school. Even the beginning the first part of the book is brilliant. Somehow Eliot manages capture Silas' descent from feeling betrayed by God and man, into being a miser and narrowing his life down into his desire to earn more gold, which closed down his soul.Reading it, I felt as trapped, hopeless, and dead inside as the main character. The author made me understand how a disordered appetite makes a human into a thing without hope, where everything serves the appetite. The appetite feeds on the victim's humanity until nothing is left but a husk.
Her portrayal of this dark path made the light that much brighter, when Silas discovers Eppie and through his love for her and the kindness of Dolly Winthrop, heal the wounds created by the betrayal of his friend William Dane. The loss of his gold makes him human to his community, so that they regard him in a kinder light. Once he opens his heart to Eppie, that love, and the friendship of his community open up his heart, mind, soul, and life. It was like walking through a dark tunnel, and then having light and a beautiful scene open up before me. I'm looking forward to the rest of the book, and I plan on reading more of her work.
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