Silas Marner

Cody writes:

Silas Marner is a linen-weaver who works in a small village called Raveloe during the early 1800s.  Marner has been in Raveloe for fifteen years but when he first arrived, residents of Raveloe had just seen him as a young man who’s appearance and personality was nothing out of the ordinary.  However, they soon began to realize there was many things peculiar about Silas Marner.  During this time period, many people are very superstitious and think because of Marner’s frequent daydreaming and blank expression, that Marner is a dead man that has come back to life again.  However, this is not true.  Marner is just a man full of grief and regret.  Fifteen years ago, before he had come to Raveloe, Marner lived in the town where he had grown up in and had been very involved with the Catholic Church.  At the time, Marner’s life was great.  He was getting ready to marry his fiancee and he was very happy at the Church.  But soon his whole world came crashing down.  Marner was accused of stealing money from the Church, and though he denied it, nobody really believed him.  To make things worse, his fiancee left him and married his best friend.  Silas Marner left his hometown and settled down in Raveloe.  Fifteen years has passed and the people of Raveloe find Marner just as abnormal.  Not only because they think he is really a dead man, but also because of a strange gift he inherited from his mother, where he makes medicine out of many different plants.  He gives his products to sick people, and even though he is no doctor, his medicine is much more effective then any medicine a doctor prescribes.    This generosity makes people very grateful, but also makes people wonder and think more about that strange Silas Marner.