Question

from "Was it a Dream?" by Guy de Maupassant On turning round I saw that all the graves were open, that all the dead bodies had emerged from them, and that all had effaced the lies inscribed-engraved or written on the gravestones by their relations, substituting the truth instead. And I saw that all had been the tormentors of their neighbors-malicious, dishonest, hypocrites, liars, rogues, calumniators, envious; that they had stolen, deceived, performed every disgraceful, every abominable action, these good fathers, these faithful wives, these devoted sons, these chaste daughters, these honest tradesmen, these men and women who were called irreproachable. They were all writing at the same time, on the threshold of their eternal abode, the truth, the terrible and the holy truth of which everybody was ignorant, or pretended to be ignorant, while they were alive. I thought that SHE also must have written something on her tombstone, and now running without any fear among the half-open coffins, among the corpses and skeletons, I went toward her, sure that I should find her immediately. I recognized her at once, without seeing her face, which was covered by the winding-sheet, and on the marble cross, where shortly before I had read: "She loved, was loved, and died." I now saw: "Having gone out in the rain one day, in order to deceive her lover, she caught cold and died." * * * * * * * It appears that they found me at daybreak, lying on the grave unconscious. Read the following sentence and answer the question. On turning round I saw that all the graves were open, that all the dead bodies had emerged from them, and that all had effaced the lies inscribed-engraved or written on the gravestones by their relations, substituting the truth instead. Why is this passage a turning point in the story? (5 points) It changes the narrative tone from romance to horror. It sets up the events necessary for the surprising conclusion. It serves as the beginning point for a lengthy flashback. It replaces the original limited narrator with an all-knowing one.

Answer 1

The correct answer is the second one: this passage is a turning point because it sets up the events necessary for the surprising conclusion.

The surprising conclusion, of course, is that his beloved deceived him also, which led to her death. 

The surprising conclusion is not a flashback, nor is an all-knowing narrator used. Furthermore, the beginning of the story is not a romance -- the narrator spends a lot of time thinking about death and graveyards. Therefore, only the second option can be the correct one.