Suffering Is Inevitable In Good People

Suffering is Inevitable in Good People Nora Elsworth once said, “Those who possess goodness are destined to suffer”. Those who spend their lives on good terms and work hard are predestined to suffer, in contrary to those who do not. This is relevant in the novel Les Miserable by Victor Hugo. It is also applicable to the article, ‘Homeless to Harvard:’ Child of Addicts Counsels Youth in Spirituality by Susan Donaldson James and Invictus, a poem, by William Ernest Henley.

The goodness in people shows through as they suffer. Fantine is a miserable existence, she lives only to support her child, Cosette by sacrificing everything for her. Fantine sends Cosette to live with the Thénardiers, to ensure she will have a better life than one in

Cosette is another genuinely good character that lives through hard times of suffering. Hugo explains, “Asail children do, like the young shoots of the vine that cling to everything she tried to love. She had no been able to succeed. Everybody had replied her- the Thénardiers, their children, other children” (123). Cossette is sent to live with a family who does not care about her, only their own children. She is treated unfairly and lives in poverty. Her mother pays for safety and love and she does not receive it. Moreover, Fantine is drowning in a pool of suffering. She is treating her horribly because she “abandoned” her daughter. “What has become of this mother, in the meantime, who, according to the people of Monremeril seemed to have abandoned her child?” Hugo writes, “Where was she? What is she doing?” (48). Fantine is giving up her own happiness and life for her daughter to have opportunity in the future, and not suffer like she is. Finally, the suffering of good people is shown throughout the real world. Murray, a Harvard graduate, grows up in a drug addiction filled home. She decides it is best for her to move out early in life. “She moves out at 15, figuring it was safer than living on the streets than in a home where there was more cocaine and heroine than food on the kitchen table” James explains. To further this point, James paints the picture of a broken household. She states, “The family became homeless after they were evicted for not paying their rent. Her father went to live in a shelter and her mother moved in with a boyfriend she met in a bar”. Liz Murray does not have the typical childhood. It is filled with drug problems and the effects of them. She is young and does nothing to be suffering as she is at such a young age. Suffering is always going to be evident in the best