Her Benny

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When Oscar Wilde said you’d have to have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing one wonders whether he was really thinking of Hocking.

Hocking's work however is also characteristic of Victorian evangelical fiction in the emphasis placed on Christian piety, and the role of inner spiritual renewal; his Methodist beliefs emerge especially clearly in Joe Wrag's prolonged struggle with the doctrine of Predestination. Benny has saved his 'angel's' life; now she reveals that she and her father have long known that he was innocent of the theft. Hocking has none of Dickens’ humour and his descriptions, particularly of Little Nell, Benny’s sister, are sentimental to the point of embarrassment. Benny is given several chances to improve himself and even when he and Nell are down on their luck he always steers away from stealing and any thing dishonest. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.It's also funny in hindsight to have not one but two agonizing deathbed scenes for the same person, although it was surprisingly effective the second time around. If you are able to ignore the moralistic and didactic overtones of each chapter, the narrative is an important tale of the conditions on the streets of Liverpool when there was no Government safety net, healthcare, sanitation or empathy for the disadvantaged . Its form parallels, and was probably influenced by, Hogarth's well-known and widely distributed series of engravings of Industry and Idleness, which had also been aimed at the young.

In the meantime Nelly gets God in a big way and starts to wish for the sweet release of death because people have told her that heaven is a reward and better than life on earth. If you can overlook or ignore the language, vocabulary and grammar use, I feel sure you too would love the tale.It is written alot in northern dialect, which some people may struggle with, other than that it's a beautifully written story, one that the author tells us contains more truth than fiction, which just breaks my heart all over again. The book sold over a million copies, and it is easy to see why such a tale would have appealed to the late Victorians, following on from the social issues first raised by Dickens. And those who have occasion to penetrate their dark and filthy recesses are generally thankful when they find themselves safe out again. I'm really disappointed too as the only reason I read it is because my grandfather told me it was the one book he ever read that made him cry his eyes out. The most positive aspects were the historical interest and the settings: the cold and gritty streets and docksides of Victorian Liverpool and the surrounding woods and fields to which Benny retreats and where he grows in faith and stature.