Arrogant due to his fortune and growing up around similar characters. Snobbish due to mistreatment perhaps from a close friend in his childhood. And above all, honest, which may be a product of good upbringing and certainly insight on his true character.
Answer: In this passage, Willis is expressing that literature is a message from the past telling us about the lives of those before us. We are told that these messages are trying to tell us how we live and how we die based on others experiences. Willis tries to explain this through a concerned, yet passionate tone that urges us, the readers, to learn from the mistakes and the fortunes of the lives of people before us. We can only do this through literature, as it is the gateway to seeing how the world works.
Explanation:
