The reader becomes hopeful that Silas will be able to make friends and find happiness but hopes are dashed when Silas spends his Christmas in loneliness' and once again the reader is filled with pity and a sense of sadness. Again Elliot offers the reader hope when Silas has to be told by neighbours that it was new years eve, which shows that he has begun to make some contact with society but on the other hand we can still see that he is isolated because he doesn't know what day it is. ...