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

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.

Answer 1

The author’s tone in the passage suggests that Norman Gortsby views the dusk hour as a time for the defeated, which reflects his own perspective on life and his feelings about those around him. Based on the descriptions of Gortsby’s thoughts and the atmosphere he perceives, the most fitting response is:

He is unhappy with his life and has many regrets.

This interpretation is supported by his focus on the "shabby clothes and bowed shoulders" of those who blend into the gloom, indicating a sense of shared melancholy rather than superiority or pride.