NON-AFRICAN PROSE; GEORGE ELIOT: Silas Marner
What role does fate play in the development of the plot.
Explanation
The role Fate played in the development of the Plot. From the start of the novel in Lantern Yard to where Eppie gets married to Aaron, fate shows its mighty hand in the development of the plot.
During a prayer meeting Silas is attacked by a fit and after he comes to the members who were thinking that Silas must have fallen into a trance wanted some divine revelations and prophesies from him. This is the first episode in which e shoes its hand. Silas has no revelation to give the church study group but the members of the group, especially .', Warn Dane, have noticed that something special has happened to Silas.
Silas and Sarah are engaged to be married and the aged deacon becomes ill and needs to be attended to by young members of the congregation. This is an act of fate which contributes to the development of the plot. On the night - which the deacon dies, Silas is attacked by another fit and he comes to only to wonder why William Dane has not believed him to his watch al the Deacon's house or noticed the demise of the deacon.
Earlier, Silas uses his knife to cut a strap for William without remembering to put his penknife back into his pocket. On the mourning after the Deacon's death, Silas' knife is found in the house and the bag containing the church's money disappears. The empty bag is later found in Silas' house. The disappearance of the money and the discovery of ate empty bag in Silas' place are all acts of fate to move the plot forward.
Because of his strong faith, Silas believes that the drawing of lots to find the thief will exonerate him from all suspicion. To his utter chagrin the lot falls on Silas who knows that he has not stolen the church's money.
The engagement between Sarah and Silas is broken even though there is no religious reason for doing so and this obviously another act of fate. later on in the story, William Dane marries Sarah and Silas decides to leave Lantern Yard because he believes that :sere is no God and that if there is any he must be a god of lies.
Silas moves from Lantern Yard to Raveloe because he has lost all faith in God and man and wants to have no --finds and to worship God. He settles in a stone cottage outside the village of Raveloe weaving for anyone who can pay thle price without visiting anyone; his customers come to visit but all such are on purely business visits. The villagers have all kinds of stories about him but he neither hears nor cares about the speculations of human beings. He now has a new form of entertainment; playing with his gold coins, packing them back into their bag and placing it under the floor board before going to bed.
From the villager's point of view, Silas has not really becomes a part of the village because all citizens of Raveloe must attend the Cass' parties, visit the Rainbow, the local pub fairly regularly and go to church at least once in a while. Silas has not attended even one of these places since his arrival in Raveloe.
Then, Silas heals Sally Oats of a heart condition and everyone wants Silas to heal his disease but Silas ignores all their appeals because he is not a doctor and does not want to be anyone's friend. That Silas knows the herb that heals Sally Oats is another act of fate which brings people close to him, but he withdraws into his shell — Silas has human feeling and sympathizes with the pain of others.
Then, Dunstan Cass steals the bag of Silas' gold. Once his only plaything disappears, Silas walks through the rain to the Rainbow to ask if anyone has news about his missing money. It is the hand of fate that caused Dunstan to steal Silas' gold. He is distressed and feels even more lonely than before.
Not long afterwards, on the night of another Christmas party at the Cass' home to which Silas does not go, Silas comes home to find a golden haired toddler sleeping on his hearth. He initially thinks it is his gold come back but upon touching it discovers that it is soft. He cuddles the little girl and goes to the Cass party to announce his find and seeing that there is no claimant, decides to keep the child.
Silas becomes a changed man and does anything that is suggested by his neighbours to be to the good of the child that he names Eppie. The arrival of the child is another example of fate and by the time his gold is discovered and handed back to him and Eppie gets baptized and Aaron comes to ask for the hand of Eppie in marriage, fate has worked full cycle on Silas. He has become acceptable to the village of Raveloe because he has fulfilled all the requirements for anyone to become a citizen of Raveloe.