question about Silas marner

[arabian night]

hello all :)
I want to know the answer of this question:

Explain the spiritual development in silas marner ??

Thanks in advance

[Sitaram]

http://www.cyberpat.com/shirlsite/essays/casuist.html

Certain ideas find expression in the fiction of George Eliot in the sense
that she uses her fiction as a means of thinking about philosophical
and moral issues.

George Eliot was influenced by Auguste Compte, Ludwig Feurbach and
Spinoza, influencing: 1. Eliot's vision of society and how it develops, 2.her
ideas regarding the nature of the interaction between society and the
individual, and 3. her views relating to ethical behavior, i.e., the moral
responsibility of the individual and his relative potentials for spiritual
freedom and growth.




The truth, the essence of religion can be
isolated by a recognition of Christianity's symbolic expression of
concrete psychological needs. Religion is the anthropomorphic
formulation of man's highest aspirations. The yearning of man after
something above himself is nothing else than the longing after the
perfect type of his nature. Man has objectified his consciousness,
thereby setting "God before him as the antithesis of himself. Man
has consequently alienated himself from the God of his own creation.
But he can recover Christianity, the religion of suffering, by
recognizing in it his own subjective veneration of human solidarity, the
"Love" which Feuerbach detects in all its doctrines, sacraments, and
practices."



Is literary analysis something which may
be learned? Does our upbringing or society influence
or condition us to see and analyze things in one fashion rather than in
some other, different fashion?

I think that we are
immersed in a culture which daily shows us certain lessons, through
entertainment and education, to inculcate in us a certain moral value
system.



I was raised and educated in the
predominantly Christian society of the USA. My point is simply this:
from the age of 5, when we first got a television, I was exposed to
stories and religious sermons which were aimed at demonstrating
spiritual development in one way or another. I would see a religious
based show called "The Guiding Light" which, at the introduction of
each episode, would show a lost man coming to a crossroads and
seeming confused. Then suddenly, a great beacon of light would
shine down from heaven and point out to him which road he should
take. What would follow is a story where some moral dilemma is
illustrated, and then the actor makes the "spiritually correct" choice,
and lives "happily ever after." Or sometimes, the actor or actress
would make the wrong choice, and then we would see the
unhappiness or misfortune which results from that wrong choice.


I can only guess what life and upbringing might be like in a different
culture based on different customs, values and religion.



Are we taught or conditioned by our culture and education and
heritage to see and interpret things in a certain fashion?

I personally was never brought to any
church even once during my childhood and adolescence. I had to
develop my own religious beliefs in college, when I was over the age
of 19. I spent twenty years trying to be a Greek Orthodox Christian,
and even spent one year in a monastery at age 25. Ultimately, in my
40's, my beliefs became more Hindu and Buddhist than anything else.


I am reminded of that wonderful book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by
Professor Nafisi. I have only glanced at excerpts from the book.
I just recently began a serious reading of Nabokov's "Lolita."

Some students, in Islamic societies, see novels like "Lolita" and "The Great Gatsby" as illustrations of the decadence of "the great Satan" of western society. Communist societies like Russia and China also have a vested
interest or agenda in seeing such books as a symptom of the
decadence or moral decay of western capitalistic society.


I recently spoke with a Russian, working in the USA, who read Lolita in
Russian. Nabokov translated his own works from English into Russian.
The Russian gentleman made the comment that the novel "Lolita" is
"decadent" and western in its nature, and in no way a good example
of a truly Russian novel.



We see that in the 19th century, writers like George Eliot are writing books to
morally instruct or lead people in the direction of faith, while in the
20th century, people are writing postmodernist type books to lead
people away from traditional faith and beliefs.

Spirituality is a two way street, and both sides of the street are lined
with words of rhetoric to propel us on our journey. And at one
extreme, this street leads to some brand of fundamentalism, whether
Christian or Islamic or Hindu or Buddhist, which can be quite divisive,
dividing the world into two camps, the camp of satan and the camp of
god, creating much hatred under the banner of brotherhood and love;
while at the opposite extreme of this street is an atheistic humanism
which offers great individual freedom of choice in an atmosphere of
serene equanimity.



If we are to answer the question regarding the "spiritual development" of Silas Marner, we must first spend some time what the term "spiritual development" might mean, both from our own personal cultural perspective, and also from George Eliot's historical and cultural perspective.


I recently purchased Kazantzakis’ “The Last Temptation of Christ”. I have not read it yet, but the premise of the book, as I understand it, is quite brilliant. We know from the four Gospels of the New Testament that shortly before Christ dies on the cross, he says “It is finished.” Nikos Kazantzakis brilliant notion is that, prior to those words, Jesus is tempted by the devil with a fantasy dream that he has actually escaped crucifixion, walked away from his mission, married, enjoyed children, family and a worldly life. Of course, there is nothing in the Bible to support any notion that Jesus was tempted in this fashion. But the idea is a brilliant one.

Many Greeks and also Roman Catholics were scandalized by Kazantzakis’ book, which they deemed blasphemy. The Roman Catholic Church placed the book on a list of banned books.

The life of the author, Nikos Kazantzakis, is a life of “spiritual development.” There are ways in which his book, “The Last Temptation of Christ” is not blasphemous at all, but rather pious, in that it seems to acknowledge the historical existence of Christ, and also his divinity and his role in “saving mankind.” As I read through the novel, I shall later comment further. Nikos Kazantzakis led a tormented and confused life, as it seems to me, what little I know. As a young man, he spent some weeks or months in seclusion on Mt. Athos, which has been only male monasteries for hundreds of years. Kazantzakis toyed, in his life, with atheism and Communism. Finally, in this spiritual development of his, he reached a point in his life, towards the end I imagine, where he could write such a book about Christ.

Spiritual journeys always seem to involve alienation and rejection and apostasy, and then return, acceptance, re-integration. There are no promised lands without deserts and wildernesses.

An average mind can find happiness and contentment in most anything. It accepts whatever belief and way of life first comes its way and never doubts or questions. But a great mind is never satisfied with anything. The great mind questions everything and doubts everything. The great mind torments itself and alienates itself from the world of average minds. The great mind creates whole new worlds and then abandons them in disdain. Ultimately those new worlds become absorbed by the average mind as part of the commonplace.

Another “spiritual development” to look at is that of Hans Kung who wrote “On Being Christian.” Hans Kung was a shining star of a young theologian at Vatican II in the 1960s. But then, Kung’s thinking evolved to some point which the Roman Catholic Church found too radical, so he was banned from teaching in Catholic universities. I believe Hans Kung is still alive, as I write this. He is an old man now, and grieves that the Roman Catholic Church will not bend even a little towards acknowledging his writings in some fashion.

A third person to look at, with regard to “spiritual development” is the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. He developed his Existentialism by writing “Being and Nothingness” during World War II. After the war, when Existentialism was very popular, and Sartre could have circled the globe making speaking tours, Sartre rejected Existentialism and moved towards Communism. Towards the end of his life, Sartre became disillusioned with the political fruits of Communism and rejected it as well.

It even occurs to me that one might write about the “spiritual development” of the human race as a whole.

Historically, mankind did not always hold the same views with regard to environmental issues and human rights. We may discuss how such views have evolved over the millennia, apart from geographic, cultural and religious boundaries.

http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=546&C=661

I suppose we may, each of us, speak of our own "spiritual development" during our lives, which may be either uphill or downhill on that two-way street of spirituality.

[mono]

Excellent novel, George Eliot's Silas Marner; I just finished it relatively recently.
I think one's true definition of "spiritual development" may alter the response, but, in terms of materialism and non-materialism, the character, Silas Marner, evolved much through the story. Poverty-stricken and coming across the child by a mere chance represented, I think, some of the partial naïveté of the main character; much had occurred in his life, mostly for the worst, but he seemed to learn little from such experiences (and, as the alleged phrase goes, "wisdom comes from suffering").
The child, I think, with much innocence and little exposure to the world, reflected Silas Marner in a way that they would both inevitably grow with time. While raising the child, then discovering the actual parents, desiring the child back, Silas Marner discovered much of the non-material, irreplacable value of love and human attachment; in the beginning of the story, he lost a considerably large sum of money, and that seemed the greatest of his worries, until he raised the youth.
Hence, again, depending on your definition of "spiritual development," I believe, in this manner, Silas Marner evolved much from the thought between attachment to material and non-material things.