Psychological Introspection.silas Marner

Mohammed 1university Faculty of letters Department of English Oujda

Academic year 08.09 Novel Semester: six

Test 27April 2009 Student name: Skouri Samir

Answer the following question Psychological introspection enters largely in the composition of Silas Marner discuss this statement, showing how George Eliot uses this device to serve the general purpose of the novel?

Essay Silas Marner is an excellent choice for classroom study, as it is given as part of the syllabus in many colleges in the world. It is true that it may seem a bit lengthy and hard to read by some readers, however, it is exemplary in structure, rich with its various literary devices such as symbolism, flashback, irony, and psychological introspection which enters deeply in the composition of this book, now, we as Moroccan students, we are going to discuss this last mentioned device, to know what Eliot’s intention behind using this technique. George Eliot is always present in this book, with her omniscient narration, she has been repeatedly involved, using her authoritative and didactic interventions in order to guide and orient the readers. Throughout the story, Eliot makes her narrative comments about the actions, thought and feelings of the Ravaloe inhabitants, she almost seems to speak on their behalf, she describes them in a very accurate and deliberate way as she is one of them -which might be true- Eliot examines her characters carefully when she reads their minds and feels their emotions. These narrative comments have a role to play of course, they say a lot about Eliot as a woman in one hand and, to give the reader an opportunity to make his/her own observations and conclusions in another hand, these observations the reader can make serves to help him sympathise with the people she describes; to give them more time to understand them as Eliot gives them more time describe them, to feel them as Eliot does. Many of Eliot’s comments emphasize the link between the reader and the characters, usually to demonstrate that we all equally possess a fallible human nature and, that we all could commit guilts as Dunstan for instance. After an attentive reading of the book, the reader can interpret that Eliot may be trying to persuade us, that people whatever their era, share the same natural human disposition and capable of the same peculiar mental habit such that of Silas. For instance, after describing Marner as a spider who does repeated behaviour, she might have in mind that we are also concerned with the repeated behaviour; in a way or another. She wants the reader to imagine that every one finds purpose in repeating certain behaviour when isolated. She might also have in mind that if we were in Silas’s place we could do the same thing as he. If not counting money it may be something else, she wants us to bear in mind that we somehow might have experienced a consciousness similar to that of Silas, because I think Eliot was a victim of isolation too where her repeated behaviour was may be writing, and for her as a woman she is comparing weaving with writing

Though we need neither Silas nor Eliot to see ourselves, she is right in her implicit assumptions that it is easy to live the past without the help of any sympathized historian to show us otherwise. So thanks to Eliot’s finer efforts and thanks to her skilful work of art where all that she expects from her readers is, sympathy and respect to the people she describes and whom she lived with