Silas Marner

Content Warning: This guide discusses addiction and depression, which feature in Silas Marner.

Weavers are a regular sight in the English countryside of the early 19th century. They are typically thin, pale, and solitary, unlike the healthier-seeming peasants who work in the fields and believe that weavers are beholden to “the Evil One” (5). The peasants are wary of the solitary weavers and the expertise they possess. Since they are lonely, many weavers become eccentrics. Silas Marner is a weaver who lives near an abandoned stone pit on the fringes of the small village of Raveloe. The locals study him with a mix of awe and contempt. While watching him, the local boys wonder whether he has special, supernatural powers.

Silas has lived in Raveloe for 15 years. During this time, none of his neighbors have been invited to his house. He maintains his seclusion, which has caused people to spread rumors about him due to a “vague fear” of his powers (9). One man says he saw Silas suffering from a fit. A parish clerk, Mr. Macey, says that these fits are Silas attempting to communicate with the devil. In spite of these rumors of witchcraft, the locals are too scared of Silas to accuse him of anything.