Silas Marner

by George Eliot

Silas Marner: Foil 1 key example

Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Childish Behavior:

Eppie's childish behavior and development into maturity appear as a motif as soon as she joins Silas's storyline. Her innocent good nature foreshadows other characters' development into better people, particularly Silas, for whom she initially acts as a foil. In Chapter 14 when Silas's love for Eppie begins to awaken and he remembers his own better qualities, the narrator makes the following comparative claim:

 As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was growing into memory: as her life unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually into full consciousness.

Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Childish Behavior:

Eppie's childish behavior and development into maturity appear as a motif as soon as she joins Silas's storyline. Her innocent good nature foreshadows other characters' development into better people, particularly Silas, for whom she initially acts as a foil. In Chapter 14 when Silas's love for Eppie begins to awaken and he remembers his own better qualities, the narrator makes the following comparative claim:

 As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was growing into memory: as her life unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually into full consciousness.

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