Edexcel style exam question on Chapter 1
Silas Marner by George Eliot
In Chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the local community of Lantern Yard.
Among the members of his church there was one young man, a little older than himself,
with whom he had long lived in such close friendship that it was the custom of their Lantern
Yard brethren to call them David and Jonathan. The real name of the friend was William
Dane, and he, too, was regarded as a shining instance of youthful piety, though somewhat
given to over-severity towards weaker brethren, and to be so dazzled by his own light as to
hold himself wiser than his teachers. But whatever blemishes others might discern in
William, to his friend’s mind he was faultless; for Marner had one of those impressible selfdoubting natures which, at an inexperienced age, admire imperativeness and lean on
contradiction. The expression of trusting simplicity in Marner’s face, heightened by that
absence of special observation, that defenceless, deer-like gaze which belongs to large
prominent eyes, was strongly contrasted by the self-complacent suppression of inward
triumph that lurked in the narrow slanting eyes and compressed lips of William Dane. One of
the most frequent topics of conversation between the two friends was Assurance of
salvation: Silas confessed that he could never arrive at anything higher than hope mingled
with fear, and listened with longing wonder when William declared that he had possessed
unshaken assurance ever since, in the period of his conversion, he had dreamed that he saw
the words ‘calling and election sure’ standing by themselves on a white page in the open
Bible. Such colloquies have occupied many a pair of pale-faced weavers, whose unnurtured
souls have been like young winged things, fluttering forsaken in the twilight.
It had seemed to the unsuspecting Silas that the friendship had suffered no chill even from
his formation of another attachment of a closer kind. For some months he had been engaged
to a young servant-woman, waiting only for a little increase to their mutual savings in order
to their marriage; and it was a great delight to him that Sarah did not object to William’s
occasional presence in their Sunday interviews. It was at this point in their history that
Silas’s cataleptic fit occurred during the prayer-meeting; and amidst the various queries and
expressions of interest addressed to him by his fellow-members, William’s suggestion alone
jarred with the general sympathy towards a brother thus singled out for special dealings. He
observed that, to him, this trance looked more like a visitation of Satan than a proof of
divine favour, and exhorted his friend to see that he hid no accursed thing within his soul.
Silas, feeling bound to accept rebuke and admonition as a brotherly office, felt no
resentment, but only pain, at his friend’s doubts concerning him; and to this was soon
added some anxiety at the perception that Sarah’s manner towards him began to exhibit a
strange fluctuation between an effort at an increased manifestation of regard and
involuntary signs of shrinking and dislike. He asked her if she wished to break off their
engagement; but she denied this: their engagement was known to the church, and had been
recognized in the prayer-meetings; it could not be broken off without strict investigation,
and Sarah could render no reason that would be sanctioned by the feeling of the
community.
Exam style question
Explore how Eliot presents Silas Marner in this extract.
Give examples from the extract to support your ideas.
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Edexcel style exam question on Chapter 1
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Supporting questions
Use the questions below to help you answer the question above:
1. Why did the congregation of Lantern Yard refer to Silas and William as David and
Jonathan?
a. What does this suggest about the nature of their relationship?
b. What is this literary technique called?
2. What is Silas’s opinion of his friend? Find at least one quote to back up your idea.
a. Do you think Silas would have been a good friend to William? Explain your reason
why.
b. Who was the leader and who was the follower in this relationship? Explain your
reason why.
3. Look for descriptions of Silas’s and William’s eyes. What do you notice about these
descriptions?
a. What technique has been used to describe Silas’s gaze? What does it suggest
about him?
b. Why do you think the author has described their eyes in this way?
4. Find the example of poetic imagery at the end of the first paragraph.
a. What literary techniques is the author using here?
b. What do you think the author is suggesting about Silas from this description?
5. ‘… it was a great delight to him that Sarah did not object to William’s occasional
presence in their Sunday interviews.’ What could this line suggest about the
relationship between Sarah and William?
a. What is the technique called where the author makes hints about something due
to happen later?
b. What does it suggest about Silas’s trusting nature?
6. How does William respond to Silas’s fit?
a. What does William compare the fit to?
b. How does Silas respond to William’s attitude and what does this suggest about
Silas?
7. How does Sarah’s response to Silas change?
a. How does this, and William’s attitude, make you feel towards Silas?
b. What is this literary technique called?
8. Have a look at the extract as a whole. How does the tone change between the first
and second paragraph?
a. How do your feelings change toward Silas as you read through the extract?
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Edexcel style exam question on Chapter 1
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Teacher’s answers
1. The group of ‘Lantern Yard’ are talking about the relationship that Silas has with
William – referring to the bible.
a. The reference suggests that their friendship is incredibly close and they are more
like brothers than friends.
b. This technique is called ‘allusion’. Eliot is alluding to the bible.
2. Silas thinks highly of his friend: ‘But whatever blemishes others might discern in
William, to his friend’s mind he was faultless.’
a. Yes – he shows signs of caring deeply for his friend.
b. The description of both of their characters suggests that William took the lead –
‘the expression of trusting simplicity’ that Silas has towards William, plus his
unwillingness to see his faults, suggests that Silas follows him.
3. Contrast is used to describe Silas’s and William’s eyes – ‘large prominent eyes’ and
‘narrow slanting eyes’.
a. A simile is used to describe Silas’s ‘defenceless, deer-like gaze’.
b. This suggests a certain level of vulnerability and innocence in Silas. It could be
considered foreshadowing, where the reader can guess that something bad is
going to happen.
4. ‘Such colloquies have occupied many a pair of pale-faced weavers, whose unnurtured
souls have been like young winged things, fluttering forsaken in the twilight.’
a. The author uses a simile – there is also alliteration in the ‘fluttering forsaken’.
b. This is another image of innocence and vulnerability, like the deer. ‘Twilight’
might link with Eliot’s use of light imagery in the novel – twilight being the time
between day and night; it could be symbolic of Silas about to topple over into the
darkness.
5. This line could suggest that William actually enjoys these meetings with Silas’s
fiancé.
a. This could be considered an example of foreshadowing.
b. It could suggest that Silas is naïve – another example of his innocence as he
unwittingly falls into a trap.
6. William’s response to the fit is very negative.
a. He compares it to ‘a visitation of Satan’.
b. Silas is hurt by William’s comment but takes it without question. This goes to
show the vulnerability and trusting of his nature.
7. Sarah starts to become cold towards Silas.
a. The reader develops sympathy for Silas – feeling that both William and Sarah’s
reaction is unjustified and unfair.
b. The writer has created a sense of ‘pathos’.
8. The first paragraph is fairly positive – showing Silas to have a good friendship,
whereas the second paragraph starts to show how the situation has started to sour.
a. The aim of the author is to increase the reader’s feelings of sympathy towards
Silas, as we see him with an open and trusting nature being led into danger and
despair.
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