Silas Marner
by George Eliot
(Mary Ann Evans)

Reader-Response Questions by Ron Weightman

Contact Mr. Defer for the answers.

Chapter 1

1. T/F Silas Marner was a linen weaver near the village of Raveloe.
2. T/F Silas was friendly toward the Raveloe boys.
3. A rude mind would associate what two ideas? power and benignity
4. Raveloe is in what country?
   A) Edmonton
   B) New Haven
   C) England
   D) Hartford
5. Fifteen years ago, Silas used to live where?
6. T/F Jem Rodney saw Silas looking at a dead man.
7. What was unusual about Silas's first "fit"?
8. Who did Marner cure with herbs?
9. About what would William Dane and Silas often converse?
10. T/F Silas felt no pain when William, his best friend, said that "this trance looked more like a visitation of Satan than a proof of divine favour."
11. While watching over the senior deacon, who was supposed to relieve Silas at two in the morning?
12. Who owned the pocket knife that was assumed to have killed the senior deacon?
13. T/F A search of Silas Marner's residence was never made.
14. Silas was declared quilty by
    A) a vote
    B) drawing lots
    C) a debate
    D) a show of hands
15. Silas left the church council with all of the following, except
    A) despair in his soul
    B) a shaken trust in God
    C) an impulse to go to Sarah
    D) a bitter, wounded spirit
16. T/F William was considered a suspect after he married Sarah.

    Chapter 2

17. T/F Raveloe bore a distinct resemblance to Lantern Yard.
18. A weaver's ignorance of abstractions was compared to a child's ignorance of what?
19. T/F Similar to the men in Lantern Yard, the men of Raveloe needed a trust in Christianity.
20. What were "the loveless chasms" of Marner's life?
21. What animal metaphor was used to describe Marner's endless work with his loom?
22. T/F Silas earned his gold and delighted in the purpose it would fulfill. False
23. T/F Healing the cobbler's wife with herbs brought Silas into a true brotherhood with the neighbors of Raveloe.
24. T/F Silas hoarded his money and counted it at night.
25. Narrowing one's life to the mere process of "work" because one had "been cut off from faith and love" had been done by wiser men than Silas. Instead of working 16 hours at a loom and hoarding their money, what would wiser men do?
26. Silas Marner's secret money was transfered from an iron pot to what?

    Chapter 3

27. Which house was without the presence of a wife and mother?
28. Explain why Godfrey and Dunsey Cass "turned out rather ill."
29. Which son had the better nature?
30. Why was Godfrey "away from home days and days together," jeopar-dizing his courtship with Miss Nancy Lammeter?
31. Which brother was intoxicated during the discussion of Fowler's rent?
32. The "gloom" on one brother's face turned into what?
33. Why did Godfrey not have Mr. Fowler's rent money?
34. Who came up with the idea of selling Wildfire?
35. At whose upcoming party might Godfrey be able to see Miss Nancy Lammeter?
36. Godfrey's counter threat [to Dunstan] to tell their father the entirety of his secret marriage was relinquished in favor of what plan?
37. Explain the following line: "Dunsey perceived that he had overshot his mark."
38. Which brother had "the beauty," and which "the luck"?
39. Godfrey's secret marriage "with his drunken wife" was an ugly story of ____, ____, and ____, which needed not to be dragged from the privacy of Godfrey's bitter memory.
40. Godfrey's kindly nature, his good humor, and his affectionate heart were changing to reflect that of a bitter man. Please explain.

    Chapter 4

41. Whose cottage was at the Stone Pit?
42. T/F Dunstan knew that "the old fool of a weaver" was a miser and had a pile of money stashed away.
43. T/F Bryce knew all along that Dunstan wanted to sell the horse.
44. The horse was sold, conditionally, for what price?
45. Why was the sale of the horse not consummated?
46. T/F There were witnesses who saw Dunstan's accident.
47. Why did Dunstan not mind taking the bad news to Godfrey?
48. What was cut on the gold handle of Godfrey's whip?
49. T/F While casing out Silas Marner's cottage, Dunstan assumed what "interesting idea" about the owner's absence?
50. T/F Silas was having a "fit" outside in the thick mist. He returned in time to see Dunstan escaping with his money.

    Chapter 5

51. T/F Silas was away from his house during the robbery of his money because he was doing an errand that he didn't want to do the next morning.
52. How did Marner's neighbors regard him?
53. T/F After so many years of work in Raveloe, Silas's faith was finally returning to him.
54. T/F Upon discovering his money gone, Silas, at first, didn't believe a robbery had occured.
55. What "relieved him from the first maddening pressure of the truth"?
56. Why were there no footsteps to be tracked on that night?
57. Other than misplacing his money or that a thief had taken his bags, what other cause was mentioned for "making him a second time desolate"?
58. Why did Silas conclude that Jem Rodney was the man who had stolen his money?
59. To what bar did Silas go to tell his terrible misfortune?
60. T/F Occupants of the bar seated themselves according to social and economic class.

    Chapter 6

61. Match the characters on the left with the letter of their appropriate description on the right.

    Characters	Description
    Solomon Macey	A) The butcher. A good-natured, reticent man.
    Mr. Snell	B) A farrier, or veterinary; a strong believer in his own opinions, which usually differ from those of his neighbors. He thinks of himself as a strict rationalist.
    Bob Lundy	C) A wheelwright, Dolly's husband, a humorous man who enjoys the company and the drink at the Rainbow.
    Mr. Dowlas	D) A tailor; he is one of the most engaging inhabitants of Raveloe and a leader of opinion among the lower classes.
    Mr. Tookey	E) Landlord of the Rainbow; a peacemaker in all arguments.
    Ben Winthrop	F) Macey's assistant, the butt of much sarcasm from the other men.
    Mr. Macey	G) A locally famous fiddler, brother of the tailor.

62. Which topic or situation was not discussed or did not occur at the Rainbow inn on this night?
    A) Why they weren't invited to Mrs. Osgood's birthday dance.
    B) A mild argument between the farrier and the butcher over a cow which the butcher had slaughtered.
    C) When Mr. Lammeter's father first came to Raveloe.
    D) The out-of-tune singing of Tookey.
    E) The rector's reversal of key phrases during a marriage ceremony.
    F) A ghost that haunts the stables.

    Chapter 7

63. T/F The men in the bar, upon staring at Silas, thought they had seen a ghost.
64. The movement of their pipes was compared to what simile?
65. What was the first word Silas uttered?
66. T/F Silas accused Jem Rodney without fixing his eyes upon him.
67. T/F The slight suspicion with which Silas was viewed ultimately subsided into subtle doubt.
68. T/F Jem had an alibi excusing him as a possible suspect for the crime.
69. T/F Silas remembered the time when he was falsely accused, and therefore, retracted his accusation toward Jem.
70. Who objected to the farrier "proposing himself as a deputy constable" to investigate the crime?
71. T/F Mr. Dowlas "consented to go as a second person" instead of the farrier.

    Chapter 8

72. T/F The next morning the whole village was excited by the story of the robbery.
73. What was found that might be considered a piece of evidence or a clue to capturing the robber?
74. Who thought Master Marner's tale had a queer look to it?
75. Who was remembered to have had a tinderbox with him?
76. T/F To clear the robbery up quickly, the Rainbow offered a $1,000.00 dollar reward for any information leading to the capture and convic-tion of the culprit.
77. T/F Godfrey suffered some anxiety over the "possibility that Dunstan had played him the ugly trick of riding away with Wildfire, to return at the end of a month, when he had gambled away or otherwise squandered the price of the horse..."
78. T/F Bryce withheld critical information from Godfrey because he saw "that Godfrey was rather 'down.'"
79. Who was the "she" in the following line? "She might come, as she had threatened to do."
80. What might cause Squire Cass, if he knew of the secret marriage, "to hush it up, rather than turn his son out and make the family the talk of the country for ten miles round"?
81. T/F Godfrey's inward debating over his personal struggles culminated in a full confession to his father by chapter's end.

    Chapter 9

82. T/F Godfrey told his father the truth about Fowler having paid his rent money to Godfrey, who loaned it to Dunsey, who never repaid it.
83. Who felt there was 'some lie at the bottom of it'?
84. T/F Godfrey kept another secret from his father, namely, that he had embezzled the money, loaned it to Molly, and was bribing Dunstan not to tell his father.
85. Squire Cass felt his [four] sons hung on him like what?
86. T/F Godfrey consented to let his father ask Miss Nancy Lammeter if she would marry Godfrey because Godfrey had not the courage him-self, and it would take his father's mind off of the missing Fowler money.
87. How did Godfrey entangle "himself still further in prevarication and deceit"?
88. Godfrey hoped that what would save him from unforeseen and un-pleasant consequences?

    Chapter 10

89. T/F There was a gradual cessation of the excitement the robbery had caused in Raveloe.
90. T/F Justice Malam hinted to Godfrey's uncle, Dr. Kimble, that the coincidence of Dunstan's disappearance on the same day of Silas Marner's robbery was a strong rumor at the Rainbow inn, to be investigated by the deputy.
91. T/F The above rumor weakened "the theory of an impenetrable mystery."
92. What two people went to Silas on a mission to try to get him to go to church?
93. Who sang a Christmas carol to Master Marner?
94. T/F Silas was so moved by the song that he attended church on Christmas day.
95. T/F The talk on Christmas day at Squire Cass's family party rose to a climactic argument over Dunstan's whereabouts.
96. T/F Godfrey Cass was looking forward to the New Year's Eve party because there he would see Miss Nancy Lammeter.
97. T/F Godfrey worried about the possibility of Dunstan's return.
98. T/F Godfrey feared that he might have to give reasons for why he would have to decline in marrying Miss Nancy Lammeter if his "father should bring matters to pass."
99. T/F Godfrey's anxieties were quelled by much drink.

    Chapter 11

100. When Godfrey Cass went to meet Nancy Lammeter at the door when she came to the Red House for the dance, she was quite ____.
     A) pleased
     B) radiant
     C) ebullient
     D) pained
101. Who was Nancy's aunt?
102. The Gunns found two faults with Nancy's personhood. What were they?
103. Who insisted that Nancy and her sister Priscilla dress alike?
104. Priscilla was resigned to spinsterhood and was ____ about it.
     A) cheerful
     B) remorseful
     C) pained
     D) vociferous
105. At dinner Nancy was seated between whom?
106. Who got embarrassed when Nancy was complimented on her beauty by the church rector?
107. Who lead the company into the parlor for an evening of dancing?
108. What two couples commenced the dancing?
109. Godfrey and Nancy left the dance floor because
     A) they want privacy for romantic reasons.
     B) word of Dunstan's arrival alarmed Godfrey.
     C) Priscilla eyed her sister and had a secret to reveal.
     D) Nancy tore some stitches in her dress.
110. Which was the secondary plot to the story thus far?
     A) The "romance" of Godfrey and Nancy and the unfolding of the broken marriage with Molly.
     B) The disorder which Silas feels from the two misfortunes cast upon him by a world which has betrayed him.
     C) The lost rent money and Dunstan's disappearance.
     D) The division between the upper class at the Red House and the lower class at the Rainbow.
111. T/F Priscilla sparked a quarrel between Godfrey and Nancy. False

     Chapter 12

112. Molly's desire to mar Godfrey's pleasure was motivated from
     A) a whim
     B) the need for drugs
     C) a compulsion
     D) a premeditated act of vengeance
113. Molly Farren was enslaved to what demon?
114. What did Molly do that allowed her daughter to escape?
115. Silas had his front door open partly because of
     A) the snow
     B) good luck
     C) the baby's cry
     D) the scent of gold
116. T/F Silas thought the child might be his little sister.
117. T/F Silas's hardened personality prevented him from showing the child any tenderness.
118. T/F Silas understood intuitively that the baby was crying because of her wet boots.
119. T/F Silas was able to trace the child's footprints back to her mother.

     Chapter 13

120. Why did Godfrey stand aloof, away from Nancy?
121. Why did Silas go to the Red House?
122. Godfrey felt terror in his mind because
     A) the woman [Molly] might not be dead.
     B) Nancy was soon to discover his secret marriage and concealed daughter.
     C) Silas might leave the child with him.
     D) Kimble's card game would have to be interrupted.
123. How many people, including Silas, left the party to go to the Stone Pits?
124. T/F Godfrey, contemplating Molly's recovery, was filled with the moral courage to own up to his circumstances, "accept the consequences," and claim "the helpless child."
125. T/F Godfrey had to see Molly to remove the wedding ring, for its inscription would implicate him.
126. T/F According to what was right, Silas took the child to the parish.
127. Who was guilty of prevarication?
128. T/F To wipe the slate clean, Godfrey confessed the past to Nancy Lammeter so his sweet words would further woo her.
129. T/F Godfrey gave Silas some money and returned home with a sense of relief.

     Chapter 14

130. T/F Molly was buried that summer.
131. Why would Master Marner not have to buy new clothes for the baby?
132. T/F Because of Molly's close attentiveness to her child, the baby expected a "tender sound or touch to follow" whenever it cried.
133. T/F Silas was intent on making the baby fond of himself.
134. T/F Silas believed that the child had replaced his gold.
135. T/F Silas finally went to church for the baby's christening.
136. T/F Because Silas was a strict disciplinarian, Eppie's mischief never got out of hand.
137. Why did Eppie know "nothing of frowns and denials"?
138. T/F While his neighbors grew to accept Silas as more of a human, the children still feared him.
139. T/F Silas's hopes and joys went beyond money.

     Chapter 15

140. Why did Godfrey keep a proper distance from Silas and Eppie?
141. T/F Godfrey saw his future to be bright, complete with a marriage to Nancy, who would bare him children.

     Chapter 16

142. Who was the blond girl of eighteen?
143. Who offered to dig the garden for Master Marner?
144. T/F Godfrey Cass had fallen back on his promise to "do something towards furthering the welfare of his daughter."
145. Why was no one jealous of Silas Marner?
146. Who thought good fortune would return to Silas for having cared for "an orphan child"?
147. As Silas reflected upon his past, what "error" or "mistake" did he make, casting "that dark shadow over the days of his best years?
148. Who wanted to marry Eppie?
149. T/F Silas Marner's meditation presented itself as an obstacle to Eppie's marriage plans.
150. Who was Eppie's godmother?
151. T/F Eppie was disappointed that Godfrey and Nancy had not visited more often.

     Chapter 17

152. Who was disappointed at not having children?
153. T/F Nancy was favorable towards the idea of starting a dairy.
154. T/F Because Nancy and Godfrey were denied a blessing with the death of one child in infancy, Nancy consented to the idea of adopting Eppie.
155. T/F Godfrey underestimated Silas's love for Eppie.
156. Interpret: "She had been forced to vex him by that one denial."
157. T/F After having matured a great deal, Godfrey resolved to disclose "that secret on his heart."
158. Godfrey's childless home was a form of what type of Providential punishment?
159. T/F Nancy supposed Godfrey would forget about having children.

     Chapter 18

160. Godfrey returned to the Red House with ____ hands.
161. T/F Nancy thought "the shock" might be about her father and Priscilla.
162. What was Godfrey revelation to Nancy?
163. Who was more dishonored by this information?
164. Interpret: "It's been 'I will' and 'I won't' with me all my life - I'll make sure of myself now."
165. T/F Nancy was indignant at the implications Godfrey's story had placed on the family name.
166. Explain: "He had not measured this wife with whom he had lived so long."
167. T/F Godfrey and Nancy resolved to do their duty.

     Chapter 19

168. T/F The newly found gold competed with Eppie for Silas's attention.
169. During the period after Silas had been robbed and before Eppie appeared, what kept Silas going?
170. The Cass's petition for Eppie affected Silas very deeply. Which reaction did Silas not have?
     A) Silas felt painfully powerless, and at times silent.
     B) He trembled violently in a momentary fit.
     C) He felt an irritation toward the unexpected obstacle.
     D) He showed the accent of bitterness toward Godfrey's sense of duty.
171. What argument(s) did Silas use to proclaim that Eppie was his?
172. Eppie felt "a ____ towards the offered lot and the newly revealed father."
173. Which argument did Godfrey and Nancy not use in their attempts to procure Eppie?
     A) A father by blood must have a claim above that of any foster father.
     B) Silas's affections for Eppie's good should call upon him (Silas) to relinquish something.
     C) The uncertainty of Silas's life doesn't compare with the birthright Eppie would receive with the Cass's.
     D) The Cass's sense of duty is stronger than Marner's passion for his daughter.
174. T/F While Eppie prefered the company of working folks, the prospect of becoming a lady intrigued her.
175. After considering the arguments, Eppie felt a duty toward which father?

     Chapter 20

176. T/F Godfrey and Nancy considered forcing "her to come to us against her will."
177. T/F Godfrey arrogantly rejected what Silas said about "turning away a blessing from his door."
178. Nancy didn't want whom to know about Eppie being Godfrey's daughter.
179. T/F Nancy was surprised at herself for never connecting Eppie's physical features with those of Godfrey's.
180. Why did Godfrey think that his daughter disliked him?

     Chapter 21

181. Why did Silas want to return to Lantern Yard?
182. Why was Eppie joyful at the prospect of a trip to a strange country?
183. T/F Their trip made the Stone Pits seem pretty.
184. What happened to Lantern Yard?

     Conclusion

185. T/F Eppie and Aaron got married.
186. Whose prophecy about Marner came true?
187. Why was Silas hailed as a regarded citizen of Raveloe?
188. T/F Happiness abounded for the newly weds and for Silas at the Stone Pits.