Suffering in Charles Dickens Oliver Twist and James Watsons Talking in Whispers :: English Literature

Suffering in Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and James Watson's 'Talking in Whispers' I am going to explore the ways in which human suffering is portrayed in Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and James Watson's 'Talking in Whispers'. I am also going to explore the ways in which sympathy is created for the characters Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta. With consideration of Oliver Twist's and Andres Larreta's suffering I am going to see if they can be considered as heroes. I am going to do all of this by analysing areas of the novels, 'Oliver Twist' and 'Talking in Whispers'. Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta both experience a great deal of suffering. They experience physical, emotional and mental suffering. The societies in which they are a part of also suffer. The suffering of society in both novels 'Oliver Twist' and 'Talking in Whispers' are caused by the authorities. However, the society in 'Talking in Whispers' seems to be much bigger than the society that comes across in 'Oliver Twist'. I think this is because 'Oliver Twist' is mainly about the life of Oliver Twist and how he reunites with some of his relatives, whereas 'Talking in Whispers' mainly focuses on Andres Larreta's life and Chile under dictatorship. It also has lots of information about the Chileans as a whole. Both character's Andres Larreta and Oliver Twist possess heroic qualities. I believe they are both heroes for surviving the suffering they had received. Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta both experience physical and emotional suffering. Oliver Twist is a young child, below the age of 10 years. He experiences a great deal of physical suffering. Oliver experiences abuse at the workhouse. He was very poor and had little food, which made him hungry. He had to work to stay alive. Although his work only earned him just about enough to survive. "The hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported by the workhouse authorities." The author Charles Dickens states that Oliver is hungry and is in a poor situation. Another instance of physical suffering Oliver experiences, is the beating he receives after he has a fight with Noah. "Oliver's clothes had been torn in the beating he had received; his face was bruised and scratched; and his hair scattered over his forehead." Dickens describes his condition and implies to the reader that his beating was rough, violent and severe. He makes the reader sympathise with Oliver. Not only is this physical suffering for Oliver, but for a child as young as Oliver it is also emotional suffering. It leads him to believe nobody cares for him and that he is