What use is made of Marner's cataleptic fits in the development of the plot?
How are we prepared for the explanation of the mystery of the lost gold? (See p. 94, ll. 24-29; p. 97, ll. 17-20; p. 241, l. 29; p. 242, l. 3; p. 268, ll. 3-21.)
Why does the author cause Marner to go back to Lantern Yard and fail to learn anything of his former friends and the results of their injustice?
How many of the principal characters are brought into the last chapter?
Is what is said of them, and what they say themselves, characteristic?
Sum up the features that make it a fitting conclusion.
CHARACTERS.--From what classes of society does the author take her characters? Is she equally successful in dealing with the different classes?
Contrast Nancy and Priscilla. Which is the more interesting? Why?
Trace the changes that take place in the characters of Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass.
Do the other characters change too, or are they essentially the same throughout the story?
Do you think Marner's sudden loss of faith seems probable in view of his religious devotion?
What is the significance of the Sally Oates incident (p. 65) in Marner's life?
What effect did the gold have upon him? Contrast this with the influence of Eppie.
In the development of Marner's character, what is the significance of the scene at the Rainbow when Marner tells his neighbors of the loss of his gold?
What sort of man was Godfrey at the beginning of the story? Was there any excuse for him in his lack of manliness? State the struggle going on within him the night before he told his father about taking Fowler's money. What was the effect on him of telling only a little of his secret? Why did he at last tell Nancy all? What was his punishment?
INTERPRETATION.--What idea does the development of Silas Marner's character illustrate?
Does the author's devotion to this idea mar at all your interest in the book as a story?
What truth does Godfrey Cass's life illustrate?
What satire do you find on people or customs?
METHOD OF NARRATION.--Who tells the story?
Could the author have made one of the characters tell the story just as well? Give reasons.
Does the narrator write as though in some mysterious way she knew all about the characters, or does she write only what she might have seen and heard?