The stone pits near Silas Marner’s home in Raveloe appear only a few times in the novel, but they serve the key role of hiding the body of Dunstan Cass and Silas Marner’s stolen gold. The stone pits are a strange geographic detail near Marner’s cottage, with water filling their hidden depths. The stone pits represent the “unknown,” the elements of nature and fate that cannot be understood or explained by humans. When Marner loses his gold and finds Eppie, he can only understand this transition in terms of an exchange from the unknown. In reality, Marner’s gold has disappeared into the stone pits, and Eppie has wandered out of the wilderness from the edge of the stone pits. Only by draining the stone pits and revealing their hidden depths does the truth become clear: Marner’s gold and the thief are found, and Eppie’s true parentage is revealed directly afterward.
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Stone Pits Symbol Timeline in Silas Marner
The timeline below shows where the symbol Stone Pits appears in Silas Marner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...weaver, named Silas Marner, resides in a cottage near the village of Raveloe, beside a Stone Pit . Local boys are both fearful of and fascinated by Marner and often peek in...
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Chapter 4
Dunstan sees light gleaming through the mist as he nears the Stone Pit s and realizes it is the light from Marner’s cottage. As he walks, Dunstan fantasizes...
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...fire, and Dunstan wonders if he left for some brief errand, but slipped into the Stone Pit s, never to return. If the weaver is dead, who has a right to his...
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Chapter 13
...for the doctor and that he has found a woman in the snow near the Stone Pit s, dead, he thinks. Godfrey feels a sudden terror that the woman might not actually...
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...it. Godfrey offers to get Mrs. Winthrop for assistance, as Dr. Kimble heads toward the Stone Pit s with Marner. Dolly tells Godfrey he need not come all the way to the...
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Chapter 14
...his scissors, he discovers Eppie is gone and instantly fears she has fallen in the Stone Pit or is hurt or dead. When he finds her in the field, he is so...
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Chapter 16
...Eppie points out all the stones they could gather, she skips to edge of the Stone Pit only to notice the low water level. Marner says this must be because of the...
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Chapter 17
...and Mr. Lammeter depart, Godfrey leaves for a walk around the draining fields near the Stone Pit s. During Godfrey’s customary Sunday afternoon walks, Nancy tries to read the Bible, but ends...
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Chapter 18
...anyone but himself. Godfrey tells her that Dunstan’s body, his skeleton, has been found. The Stone Pit has dried up from the draining and at the bottom of the pit was Dunstan...
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Chapter 21
...Eppie is surprised by the closely proximity of the houses and remarks how pretty the Stone Pit s will look when they return home.
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Part 2, Conclusion
The cottage at the Stone Pit s now has a larger garden than Eppie ever dreamed of. Other alterations were made...
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