Topic > Creating a Stereotype: The Profession of Silas Marner

Whether it is a businessman or a chef, a writer or a teacher, the profession often reveals a deep insight into a person and immediately creates one stereotype for an individual. While some works occupy a prestigious position in social stereotypes, others may mistakenly diminish someone's image on a basis not connected in any way to the real person. In George Eliot's novel Silas Marner, the character of the same name works as a weaver, which for others holds a sort of mystery. Ideas of what a weaver is like and how weaving is mixed into literature and one's life story are prevalent themes throughout the novel. Thus, the significance of Eliot's choice of Silas as a weaver instead of another profession reveals complex and hidden nuances. Although much of Silas Marner's life is a mystery to the inhabitants of Raveloe, he remains a common topic of discussion and legend due to his work as a weaver. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A weaver's life, full of travel and isolation, was often accompanied by traditions created by the people of the town in which the weaver was said to currently reside in. This reaction is detailed in describing that "the sheepdog barked ferociously when one of these alien-looking men appeared... the shepherd himself, although he had good reason to believe that the bag contained nothing but linen thread, did not he was quite sure that this craft of weaving, however indispensable, could be practiced entirely without the aid of the Evil One” (Eliot 1). Weavers were seen as aliens, regardless of the city in which they were located that they were simply carrying material for their important work in society, men like Silas Marner were still seen as outcasts and friends of the Evil One Silas has been an outcast from the moment he first wove, thus forcing him into an isolation from the who would probably never have been able to escape. Herein lies the importance of the fact that Eliot creates Silas as a weaver, he undoubtedly becomes an outcast, regardless of his character. Silas Marner is not Silas Marner and cannot finish his story without starting in isolation, surrounded by skepticism. Silas could have any number of professions that involve stereotypes about him, but the importance of weaving lies in the social nuances of isolation and social rejection. But the fact that Silas is a weaver is not an irrelevant fact, his whole life becomes so to the point that “He seemed to weave, like the spider, by pure impulse, without reflection. The work of every man, pursued with perseverance, tends thus to become an end in itself, and thus to bridge the loveless abysses of life” (Eliot 14). Silas is not a man who weaves, his entire existence is found in his work, thus allowing him to fully realize his professional title and stereotype and carry on his life story. Although Silas Marner's weaving business is necessary to his life, his occupation also reveals the nuances of classical literature woven throughout the novel. The Fates of Greek mythology controlled the metaphorical thread of every human being's life from birth until death, the cutting of the thread. Fate often has a negative connotation due to the sense of uselessness and weakness it brings into one's life. Silas recognizes that his own life is not his to control when he recognizes "a cruel power that no hand could reach, that had pleased to make him desolate a.