of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race" (5). She implies that even dogs, who have been rumored to sense the evil in people, bark fiercely whenever one of the linen-weavers appears close by. In addition, she even states that the townspeople are suspicious of the linen-weavers: "The shepherd himself . . . was not quite sure that this trade of weaving, indispensable though it was, could be carried on entirely without the help of the Evil One" (6).
Thus, Eliot establishes at the beginning that the act of linen-weaving and the linen-weavers themselves are regarded with a superstitious fear by everyone who lives in Raveloe. But, the determining factor in the view of the linen-weavers seems to be that they have no particular ties to the town. The people of Raveloe are small-minded enough that anyone about whom they do not know their lineage is a person who should be feared and guarded against. This must be very difficult for people new to the town. How can one become included in the town community if the mere fact that you were not born and bred there meant you would never be accepted?
By describing the linen-weavers in such a manner, Eliot is actually commenting more on the small-mindedness of the town rather than any inherent characteristic of the linen-weavers themselves. As she states: "To the peasants of old times, the world outside their own direct experience was a region of vagueness and mystery . . . a settler, if he came from distant parts, hardly ever ceased to be viewed with a remnant of distrust" (6). She also explains the result of this continued distrust on the actions of the linen-weavers: they begin to adopt eccentric and solitary habits that only reinforce the townspeople's beliefs.
In essence, we meet two different yet intertwined Silas Marners at the beginning of the novel. By introducing us to the linen-weaver first, Eliot shows us what Silas has become since lea...