If the author included the perspective of the train crew, what effect would that have on the overall perspective of the passage?
Show Hint
- It would create confusion over the actual circumstances of a hobo's death.
- It would portray the train crew as malicious and vindictive.
- It would portray the hobos in a less favorable light.
- It would make the local newspapers look more untrustworthy.
- It would make train crews much less sympathetic to the reader.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question
This is a hypothetical question asking how the passage's overall perspective would change if a new point of view—that of the train crew—were added.
Step 2: Analyzing the Current Perspective
The passage is told from a perspective that is knowledgeable about and somewhat sympathetic to the hobo world. It portrays the train crew as murderers and the hobo as a victim of their brutality. The crew is already shown to be completely unsympathetic.
Step 3: Hypothesizing the Train Crew's Perspective
If the author were to include the crew's perspective, it would most likely be to provide a motive or justification for their violent actions. The passage already hints at this: "A bad road is usually one on which a short time previously one or several trainmen have been killed by tramps." The crew's perspective would likely elaborate on this danger, framing hobos not as victims but as a dangerous menace who have killed their colleagues. They might express fear, anger, or a desire for revenge.
Step 4: Evaluating the Effect
(A) It would not create confusion about the death; it would provide context for the murder.
(B) The passage already portrays them this way. Their perspective would aim to justify this malice, not simply restate it.
(C) By presenting hobos as violent and dangerous killers of trainmen, the crew's perspective would challenge the reader's sympathy for them and portray them in a much less favorable light. This is the most significant change that would occur.
(D) The newspaper already seems untrustworthy; this wouldn't change.
(E) The crew is already depicted as murderers, so it's difficult for them to become "much less sympathetic." Hearing their motive might make them more understandable (though not justifiable), but the primary shift in perception would be towards the hobos.
Step 5: Final Answer
Adding the train crew's point of view would introduce the idea that hobos are also perpetrators of violence, thus complicating the simple victim narrative and portraying hobos in a less favorable light.
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