John Donne explains isolation best by saying, “No man is an island, whole in himself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the whole” (455).1 Many individuals live in isolation on a daily basis, but in one way or another everything that everyone does creates a significant impact that will play a role in the lives of someone else. The community aspect is inevitable; community is the basis of life. The characters in every novel ever written intertwine without each other's knowledge. Although some believe they are in true isolation, all the characters' actions influence each other, creating a community. Silas Marner's life moving back and forth from isolation to community expresses the importance of this theme to the novel. On the other hand, Godfrey Cass's puzzles isolate him even as the community surrounds him throughout his life. The effects of isolation and community are most evident 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 does she weave fabrics in her loom for fifteen consecutive years, but she also revisits the community. Betrayals play an important role in the outcome of the novel, "In Silas's story the central problem of the community begins with betrayal" (Ermarth 98).2 Silas begins as part of the Lantern Yard community, retreating into isolation due of a betrayal committed by his best friend, and then returned to the community, Raveloe. In the past Silas had a full life; “Marner was much esteemed in that little hidden world, known to itself as the church gathered in 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 in the early stages of his life. S...... half of the sheet......2. Print.Holloway, John. “George Eliot.” Victorian studies essays on the topic. New York: Norton, 1953. 111-153. Print.Milne, Ira Mark and Sisler, Timothy, ed. “Silas Marner.” Novels for students. vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 166-182. Print.Shakespeare, William. Ed. Gayle Holste. Othello. New York: Barron's, 2002. Print.Shuttleworth, Sally. “Silas Marner: A Dividend Eden.” George Eliot and 19th century science The fiction of a beginning. London: Cambridge UP, 1984. 78-95. Print.“Silas Marner”. 1,300 critical evaluations of selected novels and plays: excerpts of all new material from the revised 12-volume edition of Masterplots. Ed. Frank N. Magil. vol. Four. Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1978. 2073-074. Print.Thale, Girolamo. "George Eliot's Fable for His Times: Silas Marner." The novels of George Eliot. New York: Columbia UP, 1959. 58-69. Press.