Silas Marner and Two Short Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

An official review- Silas Marner is a great read

Silas Marner, written by George Elliot, depicts the evolution of a money-crazed man to a father. George Elliot cleverly writes Silas Marner as he presents new characters and situations in every chapter. Elliot later connects them through the main character, Silas Marner, thereby giving depth to him. At first, Silas is content with the pleasure of his gold and his weaving as he lives a lonely, single life. Suddenly Silas' life changes as the Squire's son, Dunstan Cass, steals his gold. Though Silas feels devastated over his loss, a welcome change to his life is about to occur. To Silas' surprise, a toddler wandered into his house from the cold night outside. Once he mistakes her hair for gold, he comes to a conclusion that the toddler is a symbol of the gold and a blessing sent to him. Silas becomes elightened to the idea of raising this child and realizes he can fill the void of his missing gold with her. However, no character knows that this child is the true daughter of the Squire's other son, Godfrey Cass. While reading this novel, I especially enjoyed Elliot's structure and use of vocabulary. The way the novel is structured allows the reader to understand future connections relating to Silas and his "daughter." Elliot ties up all of the loose ends as he provides background information about each essential character. When the book concludes, I felt that everything made sense and there weren't any inconsistencies. The vocabulary really added to the overall experience of the novel as Elliot infuses older, uncommon language and references into the novel. Since I chose the Barnes and Noble edition equipped with notes, I was able to understand Elliot's allusions and obtain a better understanding. I would highly recommend this edition of Silas Marner. There were no disappointments regarding the novel itself; however, the actions of the characters, such as Godfrey Cass and Dustan Cass, are somewhat upsetting. First Dustan steals from Silas his only pleasure in life revealing that Dustan is an inconsiderate antagonist. This also shows how disrespectful he is to steal from an elder, or anyone for that matter. Godfrey, on the other hand, doesn't steal but commits the other terrible deed of abandonment. Godfrey doesn't tell anyone that the wandering child is his own and allows someone else (Silas) to take full care of her. He abandons his child because he doesn't want to tell his love, Nancy, the truth about his previous marriage and child. What really astonished me was that 18 years later, Godfrey and Nancy want the child back as their own. This is so ludicrous and unjust to Silas as once again, a Cass brother is trying to take away the keystone of Silas Marner's life. The Cass brothers' poor actions are essential to Silas Marner because they truly develop Elliot's novel. I would recommend this novel as a good classical read. It isn't "action packed" like Harry Potter or Twilight, but it is still a wonderful story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Silas Marner.

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