Read the following excerpt from a story about Santiago, an elderly bookbinder in Barcelona:
For over forty years, Santiago worked in his small workshop in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, binding old leather volumes. Modern printing presses had long made his manual labor obsolete, but he refused to purchase any mechanical devices. To Santiago, each spine sewn by hand and each gold leaf applied to the margins represented a preservation of the author's original soul. Clients had dwindled to a handful of eccentric collectors, and his income barely covered the rent. Yet, every morning he swept the floor, lit his lamp, and sat at his wooden workbench. The smell of aged paper and animal glue was his sanctuary. When his nephew urged him to sell the shop and retire to the countryside, Santiago smiled, held up a sixteenth-century edition of poems, and said, 'A machine can duplicate the words, but only a human hand can give them a home to live in.'
Which of the following best describes the central theme of the passage?
- AThe conflict between family members over financial security and the decision to retire
- BThe belief that mechanical printing presses physically damage the text of old poems
- The value of traditional craftsmanship as a way to preserve the human soul and connection in artAnswer
- DSantiago's hidden resentment toward his nephew for interfering in his business