Silas Marner: George Eliot
In Chapter 4, Dunstan Cass takes Wildfire, Godfrey’s horse, to town in order to sell it.
Dunstan Cass, setting off in the raw morning, at the judiciously quiet pace of a man who
is obliged to ride to cover on his hunter, had to take his way along the lane, which, at its
farther extremity, passed by a piece of unenclosed ground called the Stone-pit, where
stood the cottage, once a stone-cutter’s shed, now for fifteen years inhabited by Silas
Marner. The spot looked very dreary at this season, with the moist trodden clay about
it, and the red, muddy water high up in the deserted quarry. That was Dunstan’s first
thought as he approached it; the second was, that the old fool of a weaver, whose loom
he heard rattling already, had a great deal of money hidden somewhere. How was it that
he, Dunstan Cass, who had often heard of Marner’s miserliness, had never thought of
suggesting to Godfrey that he should frighten or persuade the old fellow into lending
the money on the excellent security of the young Squire’s prospects? The resource
occurred to him now as so easy and agreeable, especially as Marner’s hoard was likely to
be large enough to leave Godfrey a handsome surplus beyond his immediate needs, and
enable him to accommodate his faithful brother, that he had almost turned the horse’s
head towards home again. Godfrey would be ready enough to accept the suggestion:
he would snatch eagerly at a plan that might save him from parting with Wildfire. But
when Dunstan’s meditation reached this point, the inclination to go on grew strong and
prevailed. He didn’t want to give Godfrey that pleasure: he preferred that Master Godfrey
should be vexed. Moreover, Dunstan enjoyed the self-important consciousness of having
a horse to sell, and the opportunity of driving a bargain, swaggering, and, possibly,
taking somebody in. He might have all the satisfaction attendant on selling his brother’s
horse, and not the less have the further satisfaction of setting Godfrey to borrow Marner’s
money. So he rode on to cover.
Bryce and Keating were there, as Dunstan was quite sure they would be – he was such
a lucky fellow.
“Hey-day!” said Bryce, who had long had his eye on Wildfire, “you’re on your brother’s
horse to-day: how’s that?”
“O, I’ve swopped with him,” said Dunstan, whose delight in lying, grandly independent of
utility, was not to be diminished by the likelihood that his hearer would not believe him –
“Wildfire’s mine now.”
“What! has he swopped with you for that big-boned hack of yours?” said Bryce, quite
aware that he should get another lie in answer.

In this extract, the horse dealers know that Dunstan Cass is lying and trying to deceive them.
Explain the importance of deception elsewhere in the novel.
In your answer, you must consider:

• which characters are deceived
• the effects that lies and deception have on others.

Deception is a recurring theme in George Eliot’s novel “Silas Marner,” and it affects various characters in significant ways throughout the story. The novel portrays how deception can lead to dire consequences and impact the lives of those involved.

One prominent example of deception in the novel is Dunstan Cass’s dishonesty and manipulation towards his brother Godfrey Cass. Dunstan’s deceitful actions include stealing Godfrey’s horse, Wildfire, and later selling it without Godfrey’s knowledge or consent. Dunstan also keeps his wrongdoings hidden from other characters, such as Bryce and Keating, when he lies about the ownership of the horse. Dunstan’s deception ultimately leads to disastrous consequences, as Godfrey is forced to reveal his secret marriage to Molly, the woman he has been financially supporting, in order to explain Wildfire’s disappearance.