The adjective clause in this sentence is 'who has read thousands of books'. It is an appositive, separated from the rest of the text by commas, and has an adjectival meaning - it modifies the noun, Anthony.
He says this to reassure ralph that things will be ok. Simon is one of the most sensitive characters in the book and becomes aware of Ralph's worry. This is also an example of the books theme of herd mentality and social reliance since simon is aware of the effect his words and examples have on the others.
I think the answer you are looking for might be B. Actually I don´t see how it could be D. I´m sure it´s B.
This persuasive technique is called appeal to authority.
Appeal to authority is a persuasive technique where the speaker relies on the credibility of another person or event to suport their own argument. It is often considered a fallacy because the speaker depends on the "authority"instead of presenting their own evidence.
Example:
"A commercial claims that <u>3 out of 4 dentists</u> would choose this particular brand of toothpaste for their own families to use."
In this statement, the dentists are the authority the argument depends on.
