Character Sketch of Squire Cass in Silas Marner
Character Sketch of Squire Cass: The Squire Cass is a tall, stout man of sixty, with a face in which the knit brow and rather hard glance seemed contradicted by the slack and feeble mouth. His appearance is slovenly and disgusting, further exaggerated by his behaviour. However, he has ‘self-possession and authoritativeness of voice and carriage’ that distinguishes him from ordinary people. He speaks in a ‘ponderous coughing fashion’ and lives an idle life, failing to heed his troubles until they are impossible to ignore. He only reaches decisions in fits of anger, making violent rash decisions that he refuses to revoke even when his head has cooled.
Squire Cass has a very sharp tongue and he doesn’t mince his words. He banishes Dunstan by saying “Let him turn ostler and keep himself. He shan’t hang on me any more.”
Squire Cass is the richest man in Raveloe. The Squire is described as lazy, complacent, selfish and short-tempered. He is the father of Godfrey and Dunstan. However, he seems to care more for his money than his sons. He allows them to do whatever they please as long as they do not involve his tenants in any way.
Squire Cass doesn’t seem to be a nice person according to me. He is “the greatest man in Raveloe” because of the land he possessed and the tenants he had. Long after the death of his wife the “proud Squire condescended to preside in the parlour of the Rainbow rather than under the shadow of his own dark wainscot.” This shows the arrogance in his nature. He is considered weak by the people of Raveloe because “he had kept all his sons at home in idleness.” This also points out to the fact that he neglected his sons and fell short in their upbringing. There is also an indication that the Squire did not have much money since his son borrows some from his friend. This shows that he is not good at managing money as well.
The relationship between Squire Cass and his sons can be characterised as the relationship an administrator has with two bad, lazy, ineffective and difficult employees who also happen to be related by blood to him. Hence, it is twice more difficult to fire an employee who is related to you by family, because the drama increases and more bridges are burned in the end. It seems he has spoiteld his sons, not out of affection, but simply out of neglect. There are no courtesies in conversation, no shared mealtimes and Squire Cass does not trust either of his sons to let them administer the Red House. He treats his children more like tenants than like family, to be dismissed or ordered about or evicted. Hence, it is the relationship of master and servant, or boss and employee, between the father and his sons.
Squire Cass is acknowledged as the most important and greatest man in Raveloe. The winter feasts in Raveloe are times of great merrymaking. Although the finest of these may be at Mr Osgood’s, possibly the greatest abundance is to be found at the Red House, home of Squire Cass. The Squire’s wife is long dead, and his sons have turned out to be vagabonds. The younger son, Dunstan, more commonly called by the nickname Dunsey, is “a spiteful jeering fellow”. He is a sneering and unpleasant young man with a taste for gambling and drinking and other unsavoury activities.