Question

purpose for reading: in this excerpt from laura hillenbrands unbroken, a soldier returns home from world war ii. during the war, he was held as a prisoner and abused both physically and emotionally for over two years. pay attention to how the author uses descriptive language and contrasting emotions to develop the mood of the passage.
excerpt from unbroken by laura hillenbrand
on an october afternoon, louie stepped out of an army car and stood on the lawn at 2028 gramercy avenue, looking at his parents house for the first time in more than three years.
(2) \this, this little home,\ he said, \was worth all of it.\
(3) as his parents and siblings filed into the house, louie paused, overcome by a strange uneasiness. he had to push himself to walk up the steps.
(4) the house was done up top to bottom for his homecoming. the surface of the dining room table was a traffic jam of heaping dishes. three years worth of christmas and birthday presents sat ready for
4 in paragraph 6, what can be inferred about the main characters emotional state from his limited discussion of the prison camp?
he is still processing his trauma of war.
he is unaffected by his experiences.
he has forgotten his experiences.
he is uninterested in sharing his story.

Explanation:

The text is from a literary work, and the question is about inferring the emotional state of a character. This falls under the Arts discipline, specifically Literature sub - field. The analysis of a character's emotions in a literary passage is a common task in literary studies. We look at the description of the character's actions and the context. The character is described as having to push himself to walk up the steps, which shows he is still affected by his experiences (as a prisoner of war). Options like "uninterested in sharing his story" (no indication of this in the text about sharing), "forgotten his experiences" (contradicts the need to push himself), and "unaffected by his experiences" (opposite of the text's implication) can be eliminated. The text implies that he is still processing the trauma (as he has to overcome uneasiness to enter the house, which is a sign of lingering emotional impact from his time as a prisoner).

Answer:

He is still processing his trauma of war.