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.

A king that is conquered must see strange looks, So bitter a thing is the heart of man.

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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which statement best describes how the author uses conflict to convey a theme in this story?

(1 point)
Responses

by revealing Gortsby's true feelings about the setting of Hyde Park at dusk
by revealing Gortsby's true feelings about the setting of Hyde Park at dusk

by showing Gortsby's anger toward the elderly gentleman who reveals his gullibility
by showing Gortsby's anger toward the elderly gentleman who reveals his gullibility

by showing how judgmental Gortsby is toward the young man who asks for his help
by showing how judgmental Gortsby is toward the young man who asks for his help

by revealing Gortsby's disgust and cynicism toward his own actions in life

1 answer

The statement that best describes how the author uses conflict to convey a theme in this story is:

by revealing Gortsby's disgust and cynicism toward his own actions in life.

This is because the setting reflects Gortsby's inner feelings and the theme of defeat and lost hopes, particularly as he observes the people around him and considers their struggles as well as his own. The conflict is largely internal, focused on Gortsby's perceptions and judgments of those he sees, including himself.