From Rags to Riches: Comparing Job to George Eliot’s Silas Marner Anonymous 10th Grade

Whether it be getting a cold or losing a loved one, suffering is something everyone will experience. Ironically, suffering is one of the main reasons we have happiness; although we suffer, eventually our pain will be resolved. Many stories have been created based on this concept, like the story of Job in the Old Testament, for example. Job’s faith was tested by God, and after enduring great pain and loss, Job’s life was restored when he proved his faith to be true. A book demonstrating this idea is George Eliot’s novel Silas Marner. In this story, Silas Marner resembles a similar scenario to that of Job’s. Silas’s constant loss and deep depression is eventually healed with the arrival of Eppie, just like how Job’s trials were ended when he proved that he could keep his faith in God. Silas Marner channels the earlier figure of Job through his suffering, loss, and redemption.

The first way in which Silas represents Job is through the suffering Silas experiences in the story. In the beginning of the novel, Silas is betrayed by his “friend” William Dane, left by his wife Sarah who then marries William Dane, and is later cut off from the church, so that he feels as though he has been betrayed by his friends, family, and most...