The gold completely consumes Silas's life, but the spell is broken once Eppie enters his life. What keeps him isolated is his gold: “His gold, as it stood over him and watched it grow, gathered his power to love in a hard isolation like his own” (Eliot 40).21 Piling up, counting and loving his money limits his heart to love. The following quote describes Silas's metamorphosis from having a cold heart full of gold to a heart dependent on human interaction: “Formerly, his heart had been like a locked chest with its treasure inside; but now the coffin was empty and the lock was broken. …And there was a slight awakening of expectation at the sight of his fellow-men, a faint consciousness of dependence on their good will” (Eliot 81).22 Dunsey stealing Silas’ gold is the greatest blessing in disguise. Silas' heart has no room for both of his treasures: gold and Eppie. Silas's change of heart "...also reveals that the human spirit within him is not quite dead" (Milne and Sisler).23 Silas allowing that "human spirit" to fill his heart again is the reason for his happiness in the end. the wandering child Eppie, who Silas first mistakes her shiny blonde curls for stolen gold, becomes Silas' true source of happiness, "Eppie, of course, functions as a catalyst for the release of Silas' energy" (Shuttleworth 90 ).24 The Raveloe community helps Silas raise Eppie; in doing so, Silas “Under the influence of Eppie Silas goes beyond the “ever-repeating circle” of thought established by his gold to seek connections and bonds with his neighbors” (Shuttleworth 88).25 His first treasure, gold , never allows Silas to live a happy and fulfilling life, as Eliot describes in the following quote, "...he had asked to sit in the center of the paper......2. Print.Holloway, John. «George Eliot .» Victorian studies essays on the subject. New York: Norton, 1953. Print.Milne, Ira Mark and Sisler, ed. «Silas Marner.» Novels for Students. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Print.Shakespeare, William. Ed. Gayle Holste. New York: Barron's, 2002. Print.Shuttleworth, Sally of dividends.” George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Science The Fiction of a Beginning. London: Cambridge UP, 1984. 78-95. “Silas Marner.” 1,300 critical evaluations of selected novels and plays: extracts of all new material from the revised edition in 12 volumes of Masterplots. Ed. Frank N. Magil. Englewood Cliffs: Silas Marner ." The Novels of George Eliot. New York: Columbia UP, 1959. 58-69. Print.