John Donne explains isolation best when he says, “No man is an island unto himself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the continent” (455).1 Many individuals live in isolation every day, but in one way or another, everything each person does creates a significant impact that will play a role in someone else's life. The community aspect is essential; community is the basis of life. The characters in every novel ever written are intertwined without anyone else knowing. Even though some may think they are truly isolated, all of the character's actions influence each other, creating a community. Silas Marner's life as he moves from isolation to community expresses the importance of this theme in the novel. On the other hand, Godfrey Cass's enigmas isolate him even though the community surrounds him all his life. The effects of isolation and community are most apparent in the characters of Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass in George Eliot's novel Silas Marner. Silas Marner lives a life of repetition. Not only did he weave fabric on his loom for fifteen consecutive years, but he also revisited the community. Betrayals play an important role in the novel's outcome: "In Silas's story, the central problem of the community begins with betrayal" (Ermarth 98).2 Silas begins as part of the community of Lantern Yard, retreating into seclusion due to a betrayal committed by his best friend, then returning to the community, Raveloe. In Silas's past, he had a full life; “Marner was highly esteemed in that little hidden world, known as the gathered church at Lantern Yard: he was believed to be a young man of exemplary life and ardent faith…” (Eliot 6).3 Silas understood the importance of community early in his life. S...... middle of paper ......2. Print. Holloway, John. “George Eliot.” The Victorian sage studies argument. New York: Norton, 1953. 111-153. Print. Milne, Ira Mark and Sisler, Timothy, eds. “Silas Marner.” Novels for students. Flight. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 166-182. Print.Shakespeare, William. Ed. Gayle Holste. Othello. New York: Barron's, 2002. Print. Shuttleworth, Sally. “Silas Marner: an Eden of dividends. » George Eliot and nineteenth-century science The illusion of a beginning. London: Cambridge UP, 1984. 78-95. Print. “Silas Marner. » 1,300 critical evaluations of selected novels and plays: reprints of all new material from the revised 12-volume edition of Masterplots. Ed. Frank N. Magil. Flight. Four. Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1978. 2073-074. Print. Thale, Jérôme. “George Eliot’s fable for his time: Silas Marner.” The novels of George Eliot. New York: Columbia UP, 1959. 58-69. Print.