# Silas Foster — The Blithedale Romance character guide

> Silas Foster in The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** stout Silas Foster, Silas, Grim Silas Foster, Foster, old Silas, gruff Silas, O cruel Silas, Stout Silas Foster

**First appearance:** 0003-ii-blithedale

## Snapshot

The stout, gruff farmer whose earthy practicality anchors Blithedale's daily labor, greeting strangers and storms with the same unimpressed good sense.

## Who they are

Silas Foster runs the farm's real work while the idealists theorize, and his dry remarks about firelight drawing stragglers frame the night Hollingsworth arrives with Priscilla. He is the community's grounding in soil, weather, and appetite, skeptical of grand schemes but not unkind. His plainness throws the reformers' aspirations into relief and keeps the pastoral from floating entirely off the ground.

## Relationships

### [Zenobia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters/zenobia)

_social_

Silas Foster and Zenobia are fellow Blithedale residents, with Foster treating her with a mix of rustic respect and bemusement.

### [Priscilla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters/priscilla)

_social_

Priscilla and Silas Foster share a simple, cordial relationship as fellow Blithedale residents, with Foster treating her kindly.

### [Zenobia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters/zenobia)

_social_

Silas Foster and Zenobia are fellow Blithedale residents, with Foster treating her with a mix of rustic respect and bemusement.

### [Zenobia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters/zenobia)

_social_

Silas Foster and Zenobia are fellow Blithedale residents, with Foster treating her with a mix of rustic respect and bemusement.

## In the story

### [Blithedale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/ii-blithedale)

Mentioned as the farmer who will manage the farm and tutor the group in husbandry; his wife Mrs. Foster welcomes the arrivals.

### [A Knot of Dreamers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/iii-a-knot-of-dreamers)

Enters after doing farm chores, speaks bluntly about the harsh weather, and sits by the fire in his stocking-feet, embodying the practical, unromantic side of rural life.

### [IV: The Supper-Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/iv-the-supper-table)

Offers practical advice to care for Priscilla with food and work, and comments cynically on the firelight's effect.

### [Until Bedtime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/v-until-bedtime)

Silas Foster cobbles boots by the fire and later advises everyone to get to bed early, announcing the morning routine.

### [VI: Coverdale’s Sick-Chamber](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/vi-coverdale-s-sick-chamber)

Sounds the horn at daybreak, rousing the household; Zenobia asks him for firewood and water.

### [A Modern Arcadia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/viii-a-modern-arcadia)

Mentioned in Coverdale's description of the community's ragged appearance and practical farming.

### [XVI: Leave-Takings](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xvi-leave-takings)

Grumbles about Coverdale leaving during the busy season, skeptical of his health excuse.

### [The Masqueraders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxiv-the-masqueraders)

Dressed as an Indian chief in the masquerade.

### [XXVII: Midnight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxvii-midnight)

Practical farmer who assists in the search and makes blunt observations about the corpse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters/silas_foster
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/characters