Chapter
ten serves as a transition chapter. There has been no progress regarding the robbery. The
clue of the tinder-box, though seemingly very important, has now ceased to be a topic of
major discussion around the town. Dunstans continued absence has also gone virtually
unnoticed. Eliot describes
Silas as a man more confused and desolate than ever, spending most of his time bent over
in a chair, holding his head in his hands. She continues, "The loom was there, and
the weaving, and the growing pattern in the cloth; but the bright treasure in the hole
under his feet was gone; the prospect of handling and counting it was gone: the evening
had no phantasm of delight to still the poor souls craving." Silas is now seen
by his neighbors as more crazy than ever.
Despite the urging of Mr. Macey and Dolly
Winthrop to go to church and seek refuge in his faith, Silas ignores these ideas, already
disillusioned with the religion he formerly trusted in. Eliot continues, "And so,
notwithstanding the honest persuasions of Mr. Macey and Dolly Winthrop, Silas spent his
Christmas-day in loneliness..."
On New Years Eve, the Cass family is
having a huge annual party at the Red House, so Godfrey nervously awaits the arrival of
Nancy. |