Silas is betrayed by his friend and sent away from Lantern Yard. How does this betrayal affect his personality? Chart the course of this betrayal throughout Silas’s character growth at each stage of the novel. To what degree does this betrayal affect Silas throughout his life?

Why does Silas become obsessed with accumulating gold? What does the gold mean to him? What does it replace, and is it enough?

The Cass brothers both commit various crimes and sins. Which brother is guilty of the greater transgression and why?