In this passage from “The Devil and Tom Walker,” what cultural attitude is expressed by the people living at that time and place
? From “The Devil and Tom Walker” It was late in the dusk of evening when Tom Walker reached the old fort, and he paused there awhile to rest himself. Anyone but he would have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely, melancholy place, for the common people had a bad opinion of it, from the stories handed down from the time of the Indian wars; when it was asserted that the savages held incantations here, and made sacrifices to the evil spirit.”
They believed Indians to be primitive people with superstitious beliefs and practices.
Explanation:
In this passage, it is clear that the speaker is a superstitious person. We know this because he talks about evil incantations, sacrifices and evil spirits. Moreover, we can assume that the speaker thinks that Indians are a primitive people. This is clear from the fact that the speaker calls them "savages." We also see that the character, Tom Walker, has a bad opinion of this place on account of these beliefs. This cultural attitude was common among the people living at this time and place.
I feel like there should be one more option, but if there is not, I would go with the second option:They believed Indians to be primitive people with superstitious beliefs and practices.
