Question

How does the conflict at the beginning of the paragraph move the plot forward?

Answer 1

Answer:

The narrator realizes that the god was a man.

Explanation:

The paragraph you were given is the following:

At first I was afraid to approach him—then the fear left me. He was sitting looking out over the city—he was dressed in the clothes of the gods. His age was neither young nor old—I could not tell his age. But there was wisdom in his face and great sadness. You could see that he would have not run away. He had sat at his window, watching his city die—then he himself had died. But it is better to lose one's life than one's spirit—and you could see from the face that his spirit had not been lost. I knew, that, if I touched him, he would fall into dust—and yet, there was something unconquered in the face.

The correct option is the third one. Initially, he was afraid to approach, but then the fear left him and he decided to continue observing the god, who turned out to be a man and died along with his city. There is nothing telling us that the narrator is feeling as powerful as a god, or that he distrusts the spirits. The only mention of a spirit is the person's spirit, the one that must not be lost.