Question

Which theme is clearly evident in these lines from the passage?

Why, sir, I've been so hungry that I have been glad to take the bones they threw to their dogs; and yet, when I was a little fellow, and laid awake whole nights and cried, it wasn't the hunger, it wasn't the whipping, I cried for. No, sir, it was for my mother and my sisters,—it was because I hadn't a friend to love me on earth.
gratitude
piety
liberation
suffering

Answer 1

In my opinion, from this excerpt, the only thing that can be seen is "suffering". He had absolutely nothing in his youngest years, he was as poor as a church mouse, but not only that, he apparently had nobody to be there for him. To me it shows a great deal of pain and sadness, and that is evident in this paragraph.