Silas Marner: Write about Eppie and how she is presented in the novel.

Throughout the novel, George Eliot presents Eppie as innocent, angelic and perfect. Description of her as 'golden' reflects how precious she is due to the value of gold both now and in the nineteenth century, especially to Silas Marner, as well as comparing her to Marner's miserly ways, suggesting she is his new pile of gold. This is exampled through the phrase 'the gold had turned into the child', not only conveying Marner's belief of a holy transformation but also Eliot alludes to the fact Eppie is the new version of his gold. Eliot's use of natural imagery compares Eppie to something beautiful, bright and alive in comparison to Silas' cold, dead gold. Eliot's description of Eppie as a baby allows the reader to feel love for her due to the idyllic and innocent description. Words such as 'gurgling', 'laughed', 'toddled' and 'murmured' presents imagery of youth and naivety which makes both the characters within the novel and readers feel a sense of love and admiration of the child. Eppie is also continually associated with white, flowers, religious imagery and precious things both as a young child and young adult, not only reflecting how Silas Marner sees his daughter, but how George Eliot wishes she be presented, which is at a beacon of hope and reform for Silas as well as perhaps a religious saviour, due to Silas' choosing of the bible name 'Hephzibah', or Eppie for short, for his newfound daughter.