Kailey Pearson Ms.

Harnish English 10-1 March 11, 2012

There is a lot of depression in this world, lots of good people suffering and having to live without the true fulfillment of happiness. In the novel Silas Marner, George Eliot relates a man who lives his life wishing and praying that he will find the true fulfillment of love. The man Silas lives in misery for years, and causing himself harm and bringing himself down for the lack of faith he had in himself. His depression even twisted his view of the things that he was doing, so that he found faults with himself or his fixation with his life. Silas Marner, is about when an individual fails to secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment, they have a void left from the losses they have experienced, which that have been unfulfilled. One of the main reasons depression is damaging is that it can consume an individual and take over his or her life. When a persons life begins to revolve around depression, it pushes other important parts of life out of the way. In, Silas Marner,a mans dream of subsisting quite aloof from the life of belief and love from which he had been cut off (Eliot 14). The novel, which is being told by Silas himself, he shows the affects that one person can create. He describes his life saying, His (Silas) earnings in his native town, where he worked for a wholesale dealer, had been after a lower rate; he had been paid weekly, and of his weekly earnings a large proportion had gone to objects of piety and charity(10). This quote shows how Silass fixation becomes so controlling, that he is willing to sacrifice some of the basic staples and pleasures of life in order to bring it closer to realization. Everything that Silas does is focused on his depression, and there is no room for anything else. To others, his life would appear to be quite despicable. To him, though he is clearly unhappy, his life is completely unacceptable.

I have not gone through what he has gone through, but I know what it is like to have a part in my life where I hate everything in it. My job did that to me, I had a manger that hated me and made my job a living nightmare. My family and friends made me realize that she was only making my job worse, was because she knew that I was letting her get to me. So I stood up for myself and made her see that she didnt she couldnt make me miserable. Life is an obstacle course; I never know what it is going to throw at me. Depression is not only harmful to oneself, but it can also affect the relationships an individual has with other people. In the novel, Silas Marner, Silas went along with, all these immediate promptings, along with the weaving, to reduce his life to the unquestioning activity of a spinning insect (7).This shows how his depression has become so powerful that he is hurting himself inside and out. It is later revealed that, despite the money that he has lost through his life, silas still seemed to love it little in the years when every penny had its purpose for him.(16). When I was depressed with all the stuff that was going on at work, I was unknowingly causing harm to the people I cared about. The most damaging effect of my depression was on the relationships I had with my friends and family. When I became immersed in my work life, I no longer spent much time with the people I cared about, and when I did I was often distracted. My relationships quickly began to degrade because my friends and family thought that I disliked them. Even though I didnt cause them physical harm I caused them harm mentally, which is just worse than physical harm. When one is so focused on his or her personal gain, he or she may disregard and even cause harm to others. Additionally, depression can be very harmful in the way that they change our perception of events in real life. In Silas Marner it is fairly easy to see the part that Silas plays in his life. But to Silas, who is focused only on his work, there is no connection between his work and life. This deception of ones self is actually a situation that I have not experienced. I work hard for my money, I dont lend, give

or toss away something that I have worked hard for. Instead of allowing myself to give it up for someone who is perfectly capable to make it themselves. I would do this until I could no longer trick myself, and then the feelings of foolishness and dissatisfaction would come. I would become upset because a small piece of what I had worked for was being handed away. Although a momentary pleasure for me, silas worked his entire life for the satisfactory that he actually found the fulfillment of happiness. When an individual fails to secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment, they have a void left from the losses they have experienced, which that have been unfulfilled. In conclusion, when an individual fails to secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment, they have a void left from the losses they have experienced, which that have been unfulfilled. When depression takes over a life it pushes other important things, down the priority list. This is exemplified through the novel, Silas Marner, where a man wastes away most of his life for something that in the end does not even make him truly happy. If something becomes too fixed in our minds it does not allow us to see it in different lights and from different points of view. When this happens it can stop ones growth and learning, and lead one into unexpected and disappointing situations.