Question 10 – June 2015 Higher – Who do you think suffers more in Touching the Void, Joe or Simon? How does Simpson make you feel as you do by the ways he writes?

Touching the Void is a book that explores both of the main types of pain that a human can feel and that is physical and emotional. The events that occur during the book cause both characters to suffer from both of these pains but I believe that each character suffered more of one type of pain than the other; Joe suffered more physical pain than Simon but Simon suffered more emotional pain than Joe. I believe that Simon’s emotional pain was the result of the very difficult decision he had to make between cutting the rope that held Joe and let him fall to his death or keep holding on and eventually fall down with him. Simon decides to cut the rope and this decision invites many unanswerable questions into his mind and many thoughts that trouble him throughout the rest of the trip. He burnt Joe’s clothes as a ritual act to get rid of any threads that may connect to Joe’s spirit and remind him of his unforgivable decision. The parts of the book where Simon is talking are written by Simpson himself which may suggest that the pain Simon went through, lead him to not want to write about his perspective himself but rather let Joe express himself through Simon’s thoughts.

NOT COMPLETE