A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce Is it, then, so terrible to kill an enemy in war—an enemy who has surprised a secret vital to the safety of one’s self and comrades—an enemy more formidable for his knowledge than all his army for its numbers? Carter Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb, turned faint, and saw the statuesque group before him as black figures, rising, falling, moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in a fiery sky. His hand fell away from his weapon, his head slowly dropped until his face rested on the leaves in which he lay. This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion. It was not for long; in another moment his face was raised from earth, his hands resumed their places on the rifle, his forefinger sought the trigger; mind, heart and eyes were clear, conscience and reason sound. He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news. The duty of the soldier was plain: the man must be shot dead from ambush—without warning, without a moment’s spiritual preparation, with never so much as an unspoken prayer, he must be sent to his account. But no—there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing; perhaps he is but admiring the sublimity of the landscape. If permitted, he may turn and ride carelessly away in the direction whence he came. Surely it will be possible to judge at the instant of his withdrawing whether he knows. It may well be that his fixity of attention—Druse turned his head and looked through the deeps of air downward as from the surface of the bottom of a translucent sea. He saw creeping across the green meadow a sinuous line of figures of men and horses—some foolish commander was permitting the soldiers of his escort to water their beasts in the open, in plain view from a hundred summits! "A Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce Question Use the passage to answer the question. Which sentence from the passage develops the theme that a soldier often must harm other people to protect oneself? (1 point) Responses “But no—there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing; perhaps he is but admiring the sublimity of the landscape.” “But no—there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing; perhaps he is but admiring the sublimity of the landscape.” “Carter Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb, turned faint, and saw the statuesque group before him as black figures, rising, falling, moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in a fiery sky.” “Carter Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb, turned faint, and saw the statuesque group before him as black figures, rising, falling, moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in a fiery sky.” “He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news.” “He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news.” “This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion.” “This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion.”
1 answer
The sentence that develops the theme that a soldier often must harm other people to protect oneself is:
“He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news.”
This sentence illustrates the idea that the soldier must take lethal action to protect himself and his comrades from the threat posed by the enemy's knowledge.
