Dusk

Question

by H.H. Munro (Saki)

Norman Gortsby sat on a bench in the Park, with his back to a strip of bush-planted sward, fenced by the park railings, and the Row fronting him across a wide stretch of carriage drive. Hyde Park Corner, with its rattle and hoot of traffic, lay immediately to his right. It was some thirty minutes past six on an early March evening, and dusk had fallen heavily over the scene, dusk mitigated by some faint moonlight and many street lamps. There was a wide emptiness over road and sidewalk, and yet there were many unconsidered figures moving silently through the half-light, or dotted unobtrusively on bench and chair, scarcely to be distinguished from the shadowed gloom in which they sat.

The scene pleased Gortsby and harmonised with his present mood. Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated. Men and women, who had fought and lost, who hid their fallen fortunes and dead hopes as far as possible from the scrutiny of the curious, came forth in this hour of gloaming, when their shabby clothes and bowed shoulders and unhappy eyes might pass unnoticed, or, at any rate, unrecognised.

"Dusk" by H.H. Munro ("Saki")

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

What does the author's tone tell the reader about Norman Gortsby?

(1 point)
Responses

He is bitter toward others because he is so lonely.
He is bitter toward others because he is so lonely.

He considers himself to be superior to those around him.
He considers himself to be superior to those around him.

He is unhappy with his life and has many regrets.
He is unhappy with his life and has many regrets.

He is too proud to admit that he envies those around him.

Answer 1

The author's tone suggests that Norman Gortsby considers himself to be superior to those around him. His observation of "the hour of the defeated" and his description of the figures in the park—highlighting their "shabby clothes and bowed shoulders"—implies a judgemental perspective. Gortsby seems to have a disdainful familiarity with the plight of others, viewing them as failures while he himself appears detached and somewhat self-satisfied in his own misery. Thus, the most fitting response is:

He considers himself to be superior to those around him.