Question

During his boyhood, the main character in John Updike's "The Brown Chest" believes that the present is more powerful than the past. Which part of the excerpt supports this statement?
A)The entire front of the house had this neglected quality, with its guest bedroom where guests hardly ever stayed

B)it held a gray-painted bed with silver moons on the headboard and corner posts shaped at the top like mushrooms

C)his mother sometimes, but not often, wrote letters and confided sentences to her diary in her tiny backslanting hand.

D)the occasional scratch of her pen exerted just enough pressure to keep away the frightening shadows, the sad spirits from long ago, locked into events that couldn't change

Answer 1

Answer: D) the occasional scratch of her pen exerted just enough pressure to keep away the frightening shadows, the sad spirits from long ago, locked into events that couldn't change.

This excerpt shows that the speaker believes that the present is more powerful than the past. He describes the memories of the woman's past as "frightening shadows" and "sad spirits." Moreover, he tells us that these memories are "kept away," "locked" and cannot change. These words have negative connotations and they encourage a view of the past as sad, pointless and powerless.

Answer 2

"the occasional scratch of her pen exerted just enough pressure to keep away the frightening shadows, the sad spirits from long ago, locked into events that couldn't change."

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