Well, there are a number of highly revealing statements
that Silas makes in this short chapter, which is, in a sense, designed to show how far
his character has grown and developed. Let us remember that in this chapter Silas
revisits for the first time his old home in Lantern Yard, which was of course the site
of so much sadness, pain and betrayal for him. When he goes and finds no evidence
whatsoever of his former chapel, which has now been turned into a factory, he is forced
to accept that he will never know the truth of precisely what happened. However, he says
that this is not important to him any more. Note the reasoning he has for
this:
Since
the time the child was sent to me and I've come to love her as myself, I've had light
enough to trusten by; and, now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten
till I die.
We see the full
movement of Silas Marner from being a rejected and alienated individual, without
attachments in his community, to depending on another person so completely and fully
that he is able to have faith in humanity once more. Eppie's decision to never leave her
father has cemented this transformation, giving him "light enough" to trust in others
and to have faith once more.
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