"The man who was almost a man" speaks of Dave, who had conflicts with gaining recognition and respect, because he was young. He wanted to grow up and become a man. For this he bought a weapon, thinking that it would make him grow as a man. Seeking power, he buys this weapon, to feel powerful, unstoppable. All these conflicts of the dave age led him to make some bad decisions. The story well specifies this when he accidentally shoots a mule, and he cannot sustain the excuse he made up for it, and when he decides to take a train and go to a city where he would be able to man up.
Answer:
D. uncivilized
Explanation:
Since no word is italicized, I'll explain the word "barbarous", it being the only word that could be troublesome. The word comes from Greek "barbaros" which was the term for people not speaking Greek.
Romans later took the word and in Latin it meant "the one who comes from outside of Roman Empire".
Basically, the term meant "foreigner". But, since these foreigners came from territories and tribes that were on a less cultural and civilizational level then Romans, this term soon denoted someone who is savage, uncivilized, brutal.
Changing the sentence from a very long sentence into a short and choppy helps the suspense by not giving the reader a lot of information and making them really think and wonder.
For example:
"The stranger watched, a look in his eyes and this feeling spread throughout my body."
or
"There was a man watching, his blue eyes had this look in them that made me shiver with fear. His pale face held no emotion and made him seem as if he was just a corpse standing on his own."
The second one might sound better, yes, but the second one really makes you think and really builds the suspense.
"Who is this stranger? What does he look like? What feeling spread throughout their body?"
So instead of knowing a lot about this stranger, you know little to nothing and it really makes you want to know more, and definitely build the suspense.