"A certain fear of death, dull and oppressive, came to him. This fear
quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere
matter of freezing his fingers and toes, or of losing his hands and feet, but
that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him. This
threw him into a panic, and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the
old, dim trail."
What is the most significant factor about the reading passage related to the
characterization of the man?
OA) The passage demonstrates growth of the character.
OB) The passage demonstrates weakness in the character.
O c) The passage demonstrates arrogance in the character.
OD) The passage demonstrates the hope of the character.

In this passage, it's obvious that the character is absolutely scared and afraid of death. This gets him running and this is why he is panicked. The author uses strong adjectives such as "poignant", "dull and oppressive" to express the intensity of the character's fear. This intense fear of death demonstrated weakness in character, because a strong character wouldn't be afraid of death.

The other choices of answer are not correct, because:

A) - there is no growth in character, since the character is, in fact, very scared

C) - the passage does not demonstrate any arrogance in character, because the character is extremely scared, not arrogant. He just wants to run for his life.

D) - the passage does not demonstrate hope of the character, because he feels his death near him and he's taking into account the possibility of dying.