Read the passage below, and answer the question that follows.
"Julian stood at the edge of the electric tram line, his hand instinctively clutching the worn brass watch-chain his grandfather had gifted him in the quiet valleys of Oakhaven. Around him, the city pulsed with a mechanical tempo—engines hissed, newsboys shrieked the evening headlines, and a deluge of soot-dusted commuters swept past like leaves in a sudden gale. For six months, Julian had told himself that he would learn to navigate this metallic labyrinth, that he would discard his heavy wool coat for the lighter, sharp-cut worsted favored by the clerks at the exchange, and that he would finally look a stranger in the eye without a deferential nod. Yet, as the tram screeched to a halt, spraying a fine grit over his boots, he took a step backward into the shadow of the brick arcade. He smoothed the lapel of his outdated coat and checked the watch once more, aligning his sense of time not with the station clock’s stark face, but with the slow, predictable ticking against his palm. The city moved onward, a torrent of iron and speed, while Julian remained anchored under the archway, perfectly preserved in his quiet, dusty reluctance."
In the passage, the contrast between the "station clock's stark face" and Julian's pocket watch primarily serves to highlight which aspect of Julian's character?
- AHis material disadvantage and inability to afford the modern apparel and accessories needed to assimilate into the urban workforce.
- BThe author's philosophical condemnation of technological industrialization and its dehumanizing effects on the modern laborer.
- His psychological retreat from the demands of urban modernity into a comforting, static state of familiarity.Answer
- DHis overt resentment toward the city commuters whom he blames for his failure to find employment at the exchange.
- EHis ultimate determination to overcome his provincial habits and align his life with the pace of the city.