Read the excerpt from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard.ROS I’m afraid—GUIL So am I.ROS I’m afraid it isn’t your day.GUIL I’m afraid it is. Small pause.ROS Eighty-nine.GUIL It must be indicative of something, besides the redistribution of wealth. (He muses.) List of possible explanations. One: I’m willing it. Inside where nothing shows, I am the essence of a man spinning double-headed coins, and betting against himself in private atonement for an unremembered past. . . .[GUIL] Two: time has stopped dead, and the single experience of one coin being spun once has been repeated ninety times.
Answer
A
Guildenstern trusts that everything will work itself out, while Rosencrantz has doubts.
B
Guildenstern has participated in fewer games of coin toss, while Rosencrantz has more experience with them.
C
Guildenstern has experienced a similar situation before, while Rosencrantz has not.
D
Guildenstern wants an explanation for what is happening, while Rosencrantz accepts the luck of the situation.
Explanation
After Rosencrantz says “Eighty-nine,” Guildenstern tries to explain the extraordinary run of coin tosses, considering possibilities such as willing the result or time repeating. Rosencrantz, by contrast, simply comments that it “isn’t your day,” treating the outcome as bad luck. So D is correct: Guildenstern wants an explanation, while Rosencrantz accepts the luck of the situation.
AI-written and checked against the verified answer.