CHAPTER II—THE SHE-WOLF, an excerpt

Question

From White Fang
By Jack London

Breakfast eaten and the slim camp-outfit lashed to the sled, the men turned their backs on the cheery fire and launched out into the darkness. At once began to rise the cries that were fiercely sad—cries that called through the darkness and cold to one another and answered back. Conversation ceased. Daylight came at nine o'clock. At midday the sky to the south warmed to rose-colour, and marked where the bulge of the earth intervened between the meridian sun and the northern world. But the rose-colour swiftly faded. The grey light of day that remained lasted until three o'clock, when it, too, faded, and the pall of the Arctic night descended upon the lone and silent land.

As darkness came on, the hunting-cries to right and left and rear drew closer—so close that more than once they sent surges of fear through the toiling dogs, throwing them into short-lived panics.

At the conclusion of one such panic, when he and Henry had got the dogs back in the traces, Bill said:

"I wisht they'd strike game somewheres, an' go away an' leave us alone."

"They do get on the nerves horrible," Henry sympathized.

They spoke no more until camp was made.

The introductory paragraph to this section of text starts with breakfast and ends with the setting of Arctic sun. How does this short paragraph add to the conflict in the story?

Group of answer choices

It suggests time is running out before they have time to eat.

It suggests the cold will only increase in the coming days.

It suggests the days are intense but beautiful.

It suggests the characters do not get far during the short days.

Answer 1

The introductory paragraph to this section of text adds to the conflict in the story by suggesting that the characters do not get far during the short days. The description of the limited daylight and the oppressive darkness that descends early emphasizes the harshness of the Arctic environment they are navigating, creating a feeling of urgency and struggle as they face not only the physical challenges of the landscape but also the psychological strain of the conditions. Therefore, the correct answer is:

It suggests the characters do not get far during the short days.