Read the passage from "The Lady, or the Tiger." It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to the
se doors and open one of them. He could open either door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which immediately sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. The author’s purpose in this passage most likely is to build suspense. explain the moral. introduce the main conflict. reveal a character’s thoughts.
We can determine that the author’s purpose in this passage is to build suspense because of the description of an uncertain situation that puts the character in jeopardy, which evokes in us a feeling of anxiety, and apprehension of what might happen: the character has to make the decision of opening one of these mysterious doors which could lead him to a painful death.
