Question

Read the excerpt from Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

The major asked me to have a drink with him and two other officers. We drank rum and it was very friendly. Outside it was getting dark. I asked what time the attack was to be and they said as soon as it was dark. I went back to the drivers. They were sitting in the dugout talking and when I came in they stopped. I gave them each a package of cigarettes, Macedonias, loosely packed cigarettes that spilled tobacco and needed to have the ends twisted before you smoked them. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around. The lighter was shaped like a Fiat radiator. I told them what I had heard.

What does the excerpt reveal about the narrator?
He prefers the company of the officers to that of the drivers.
He only spends time with the officers so he can get cigarettes for the drivers.
He looks down on everyone involved in the war, both officers and enlisted men.
He interacts easily with both his superiors and the drivers.

Answer 1

The first option is false because he says the environment with the officers was very friendly.

There is no evidence for the second one.

It does not seem the case in the third option because the narrator does not express any negative opinions on the people he interacts with.

The last one is the right option (friendly environment with the officers and the sharring of the cigarettes with the drivers).

Answer 2

The excerpt reveals that the narrator has a friendly relationship with both the officers and the drivers. "He interacts easily with both his superiors and the drivers." is the right option. Heminway says that having a drink with the officers was friendly. Then, he describes a friendly moment with the drivers. He gave a packet of cigarettes to each of them and then, he smoked with the drivers.

He prefers the company of the officers to that of the drivers. Heminway does not state any preference.

He only spends time with the officers so he can get cigarettes for the drivers.  He is not taking any advantage from the officers.

He looks down on everyone involved in the war, both officers and enlisted men. On the contrary, he respects all of them.