Creating characters through contrast

It is a common technique for a writer to create characters by using contrast. That is one of George Eliot's techniques in the novel Silas Marner, in which Squire Cass has two sons of contrasting personalities. She then goes on to create a storyline out of their opposition and mutual enmity.

We learn that the wife of the Squire is dead, and that this is one reason why the two sons have not been brought up with the love and care that moulds good character. We are told that 'his sons had turned out rather ill'. This was because both had been brought up at home in idleness.

Godfrey is undoubtedly the better of the two. He is 'a fine, open-faced, good-natured young man'. His open face suggests that he is not the sort of person to keep secrets. This is ironic, since he actually has a major secret: he secretly married a young girl called Molly Farren, who is a drunk. No one knows of the marriage, but it is now of huge importance to Godfrey since he has fallen in love with another girl, Nancy Lammeter.

Nancy is a highly respectable neighbour of the Squire, and would make an excellent wife for Godfrey. Her very respectability that would make her such a good match is also the reason why she would be horrified to learn of Godfrey's mistake in the past. We feel some sympathy for Godfrey because he is now 'trapped'. It was wrong of him to marry and abandon Molly, but he wins sympathy because he knows that he has done something wrong - it is just that he can see no way out of his dilemma. He is just hoping that time will find some way out for him.

The narrator reminds us on several occasions that he is 'the good-humoured, affectionate-hearted Godfrey Cass'. This is important in retaining our sympathy. We have to be reminded that he is an essentially good man who has made a mistake, rather than someone who is evil by nature. That is why the contrast with his brother is important, because Dunstan is a thoroughly unpleasant and evil character.

He has a taste for 'swopping and betting' and is 'a spiteful jeering fellow, who seemed to enjoy his drink the more when other people went dry'. This is why he is such an unpleasant character. It is not just that he behaves in a way that is sinful and immoral, it is that he has the kind of spiteful character that takes delight in the distress of other people.