NovelGuide: Silas Marner: Novel Summary: Chapter 21 - Conclusion

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Chapter 21 - Conclusion

Now that he has the money to travel, Silas decides to return for a trip to Lantern Yard with Eppie. This marks a real turning point in Silas’s ability to accept the past. When they visit this far-off town, Silas soon realizes that it no longer exists. A big factory has replaced Silas’s whole original life.
Yet Silas still believes in a power above looking over him. He admits that he has "light enough to trusten by." Now that Silas has confronted his past, he realizes that his future with Eppie is all that matters now.
Eliot’s last chapter details the marriage of Eppie and Aaron. It’s a wonderful time of celebration and jubilation. Eppie tells her father, "I think nobody could be happier than we are." Silas doesn’t feel that he’s losing a daughter, but instead he knows that he’s gaining a son.