Question

Read the following passage carefully before choosing your answer:

The library at Oakhaven did not harbor secrets so much as it harbored dust, yet Arthur patrolled the aisles with the solemnity of a high priest. To him, the crumbling edges of the ledger books were not signs of decay, but the sacred inscriptions of a forgotten order. He adjusted his spectacles, his fingers tracing the gilded spine of a volume that had not been opened since the turn of the century. The townspeople, with their vulgar preoccupations with crops and commerce, could never comprehend the heavy grace of these silent archives. Here, time did not flow; it accumulated. He felt a sudden, sharp spike of irritation at the memory of the mayor’s patronizing pat on his shoulder that morning—'Keep the past tidy, Arthur,' the man had said, as if history were merely a matter of sweeping up leaves. The mayor's mind was a shallow brook, noisy and fleeting, whereas Arthur’s own consciousness had become deep and still, reflecting only the ancient, unchanging masonry of the vault.

Which of the following best describes the primary function of the third-person limited narrative point of view in the passage?