Selfishness of silas marner

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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What is selfishness? Selfishness is defined as one's devotion only to oneself. Someone who is selfish has too much concern with his own welfare or interests. They have little or no concern for others. A young child might act selfishly with their possessions such as toys. They might be extremely protective of a particular toy; and they will refuse to allow someone else to play with it. This has been an explanation of the course that selfishness takes. In the book Silas Marner, George Eliot displays the evils of selfishness through her characters: Dunstan Cass, Godfrey Cass, & Silas Marner.

Dunstan Cass was self-centered. Not only was he greedy, but he took great pleasure when those around him had nothing. "Dunsey---a spiteful, jeering fellow, who seemed to enjoy his drink more when other people went dry." (21-22) Dunsey's selfishness was shown when he took Silas' money. It didn't take him long to convince himself that he was entitled to the money.

"... he lifted up two bricks, and saw what he had no doubt was the object of this search; for what could be there but money... Dunstan felt around the hole to be certain that it held no more." (37) Dunstan was looking out for number one. Being the greedy person he was, he spent extra time to make sure that he had every last guinea of Silas' money. At no point did he even consider what happened to Silas. All he could focus on was his need for the money, his quest to find the money, and his escape with all the money.

Godfrey Cass was narrow-minded. Godfrey had abandoned Eppie when she was about 2 years old. When he saw what a lovely, young lady Eppie had become, he was determined to claim her...