Nature

• SILAS 'a plodding ant when the earth had broken away on its homeward path' - silas

  • in chapter 9-10, when Silas has lost his money and people come to comfort him e.g. Dolly brings little Aaron to Silas to sing the hymns,
  • it shows how sila's life shook off balance and he has lost his way home back into another community like Ravaloe's, he is compared to an ant as he is really hardworking and like commoners but is searching for his 'community'
• SILAS 'his soul was still the shrunken rivulet, with only this difference, that it's little groove of sand was blocked up and it wondered confusedly against dark obstruction'

  • Chapter 9-10, Silas is struggling to become part of the community and trying to overcome his betrayal by God and the community, but is unable to because of an unseen obstruction (symbolism just like how rivers struggle to become part of the sea)
• SILAS 'Marner's inward life had been a history and a metamophosis'

  • Chapter 1 - this quote shows how Marner's life has taken a change for the better, that he has changed from an ugly life into a more beautiful final reality, showing he has to live through the life's ungliness to experience a final beauty
• SILAS 'seemed to weave, like a spider, from pure impulse, without reflection'

  • Chapter 2, this shows how backwards he has evolved, he has lost everyting apart from his own animalistic instincts, showing how he works like a machine.
  • it also shows how weaving is a big part of his live as a spider is unable to survive without a web
• SILAS 'seemed to weave, like a spider, from pure impulse, without reflection'

  • Chapter 2, suggesting that not socialising has reduce his life, but his actions are not questioned because he is doing his job ( noone questions him doing his job as he has reduced his life to only sustaining his survival)
• NANCY 'as the body of a little bird'

  • chapter 11, this is used to show Nancy's clothing during the ball, this also shows how precise and neat and delicate the way Nancy is dressed, which reflects her personality and shows how delicate they can be
• SILAS ' a spider, solitary and slightly ominous'

  • chapter 1? - this is just comparing Silas to an insects lifestyle but this outwards perspective description of Silas' lifestyle shows how outside villagers think of silas