Which element of style most strongly evokes sympathy for the narrator in these lines from the passage?

i never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to eliza, john, and georgiana reed.

word choice

Explanation:

The author's purposeful choice of words evokes sympathy for the narrator. Just look at these adjectives used by the writer in the passage:

Chilly afternoons, dreadful coming home in the raw (i.e. very cold and wet) twilight with nipped (i.e. made numb with cold) fingers and toes, a heart saddened and humbled.

The reader cannot but feel compassion for the suffering of the narrator.  This is achieved through diction, that is deliberate choice of words.