CHARACTER
Hinds' Feet on High Placesby Hannah Hurnard

Suffering

Suffering

Quick Facts

  • Role: One of the two mountain guides appointed by the Shepherd
  • First appearance: Chapter 4, as a tall, veiled, silent figure
  • True identity: Revealed in Chapter 19 as Peace
  • Key relationships: Twin partnership with Sorrow; loyal service to the Shepherd; primary guide to Much-Afraid
  • Mission: To form Much-Afraid’s “hinds’ feet” for the Kingdom of Love through disciplined guidance and protection
  • Symbolic function: The sanctifying work of hardship leading to peace

Who They Are

At first encounter, Suffering arrives as a severe mercy: a veiled, towering guide whom Much-Afraid fears yet desperately needs. Alongside her twin, Sorrow, she is appointed by the Shepherd to escort Much-Afraid toward the High Places, shaping her journey of spiritual transformation and sanctification. Suffering’s presence reframes hardship: not as punishment, but as training under love. Her hidden face forces trust in her actions rather than her appearance, teaching Much-Afraid to rely on reality over feeling, and obedience over fear.

Physically, she is strong enough to lift and pull Much-Afraid across sheer terrain. Symbolically, her veil preserves the paradox of pain: inscrutable up close, purposeful in hindsight—until it falls and she is revealed as Peace, the very end toward which true suffering leads.

Personality & Traits

Suffering blends tenderness with steel. She is unsentimental but deeply kind, unwavering but never cruel. Her methods can be sharp, yet her aim is safety and growth, never harm. Her quietness and obedience align her entirely with the Shepherd’s will, making her a trustworthy—if intimidating—companion.

  • Silent and mysterious: Communicates in “the dialect of the mountains,” which Much-Afraid learns to understand only with time; her veil withholds facial cues, training trust beyond appearances.
  • Strong and dependable: Repeatedly hauls and steadies Much-Afraid over “impossible” paths; she does not falter on treacherous ground.
  • Firm and purposeful: When terror paralyzes Much-Afraid at the precipice, Suffering’s sharp, corrective prick forces a cry to the Shepherd—firm action in service of freedom.
  • Patient and gentle: Even after stumbles and panic, she steadies and supports without frustration—“She and Sorrow deal with me very, very kindly indeed.”
  • Obedient: Acts only at the Shepherd’s direction; her severity is never arbitrary but aligned with his redemptive goals.

Character Journey

Suffering’s “development” is the unveiling of her true nature within Much-Afraid’s understanding. At first, she embodies everything dreaded: pain, danger, vulnerability. Yet as the path steepens, Much-Afraid learns that Suffering’s strength is protection, her firmness deliverance, and her silence fidelity. What begins as recoil becomes reliance, then trust, then love. The climactic turning comes on the heights when Suffering is revealed as Peace—demonstrating that embraced hardship, under the Shepherd’s hand, has always been a passage to wholeness. This transfiguration crystallizes the book’s central truth: the Necessity of Suffering and Sorrow (/books/hinds-feet-on-high-places/the-necessity-of-suffering-and-sorrow) for transformation.

Key Relationships

Much-Afraid: This is Suffering’s primary bond and vocation. She supplies the exterior strength Much-Afraid lacks, intervening at crises to keep her moving when fear would freeze her. As Much-Afraid consents to Suffering’s guidance, their dynamic matures from dread to intimate trust—an apprenticeship in courage that culminates in love.

Sorrow: The twins work in seamless tandem—Sorrow often consoles while Suffering acts decisively. Together they present the full pedagogy of sanctification: comfort that tenderizes the heart and discipline that steadies the will, each completing the other.

The Shepherd: Suffering is the Shepherd’s faithful emissary. Her timing, tone, and limits are his; she never exceeds her commission. Through her, the Shepherd reveals that his love is not indulgent but purposeful—he permits hardship only as the necessary path to freedom and joy.

Defining Moments

Suffering’s role comes into focus through a few pivotal scenes that reveal both her methods and her meaning.

  • The Introduction (Chapter 4)

    • What happens: The Shepherd unveils the veiled guides as Sorrow and Suffering; Much-Afraid recoils—“It is more than I can bear.”
    • Why it matters: Establishes the core conflict of overcoming fear with trust in God. Suffering’s very name becomes the first obstacle to be surrendered.

  • The Precipice of Injury (Chapter 9)

    • What happens: Paralyzed by Craven Fear at the cliff, Much-Afraid cannot call for help—until Suffering pricks her with a knife, provoking a cry to the Shepherd.
    • Why it matters: Models “severe mercy.” Suffering’s painful intervention restores agency and prayer, showing that disciplined pain can be the shortest road to deliverance.

  • The Grave on the Mountains (Chapter 16)

    • What happens: At the final altar, Sorrow and Suffering refuse to act for Much-Afraid—“this we cannot do.”
    • Why it matters: Clarifies the limits of guided help. They can lead to the altar, but surrender must be personal; transformation requires Much-Afraid’s own consenting sacrifice.

  • The Transformation (Chapter 19)

    • What happens: On the heights, the twins cast off their veils: they are no longer Suffering and Sorrow but Peace and Joy.
    • Why it matters: Confirms that accepted suffering is transitional, not ultimate. Under the Shepherd, what wounds becomes what heals; what is hard becomes what is holy.

Symbolism

Suffering personifies the Shepherd’s sanctifying use of hardship. She is not an adversary to be resisted but a tutor to be trusted. Her veiled beauty suggests that pain’s purpose is rarely visible in the moment. Her final name, Peace, reveals the telos of every trial embraced in obedience: unshakeable rest in the Shepherd’s love.

Essential Quotes

“‘As for their names, I will tell you them in your own language… This,’ said he… ‘is Sorrow. And the other is her twin sister, Suffering.’”

  • Analysis: Naming converts dread into discipleship. By introducing them openly, the Shepherd reframes these experiences as companions under his command, not random cruelties. Recognition is the first step toward trust.

“Then Suffering… took a small but very sharp knife… and… pricked her. Much-Afraid cried out… and… did that which she ought to have done the moment the path brought them to the foot of the precipice.”

  • Analysis: The “prick” is purposeful pain that restores right response—calling on the Shepherd. The scene exposes fear’s paralysis and reveals how disciplined intervention can reawaken faith and movement.

“‘We have done all that we can for you,’ they answered, ‘but this we cannot do.’”

  • Analysis: True guides know their limits. Suffering and Sorrow cannot substitute for surrender; their refusal dignifies Much-Afraid’s freedom and underscores that love enforces responsibility, not dependency.

“They shook their heads. ‘Oh, no!… we are no more Suffering and Sorrow than you are Much-Afraid… Since you brought us here with you, we returned into Joy and Peace.’”

  • Analysis: Transformation is reciprocal. As Much-Afraid is remade, her companions are revealed in their true forms, teaching that the faithful acceptance of hardship transfigures both the sufferer and the suffering itself.