Read the excerpt from "Violets."

"Wife, did you ever send me these?"

She raised her great, black eyes to his with a gesture of ineffable disdain, and replied languidly:

"You know very well I can't bear flowers. How could I ever send such sentimental trash to any one? Throw them in the fire."

And the Easter bells chimed a solemn requiem as the flames slowly licked up the faded violets. Was it merely fancy on the wife's part, or did the husband really sigh,-a long, quivering breath of remembrance?

Which of the following predictions is most likely based on the theme of lost love in the story?

The husband will realize his unhappiness and begin to live a more honest life.

The husband will continue to live a dishonest life for the sake of appearances.

The wife will ask her husband to tell her about the violets and their meaning.

The wife will let go of her anger and profess her enduring love to her husband.

Answer: I would contend that the right answer is the 3) The wife will ask her husband to tell her about the violets and their meaning.

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it is possible to add that, based on the theme of lost love in this short and moving story by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, it can be predicted that the wife will ask her husband to tell her about the violets and their meaning, since he seems so touched by them and the sweet memory they evoke in his mind. The floral arrangement had been an Easter token from a former lover, who, somewhere far away from where he now lives, coincidently has just died. At first he doesn't remember who gave him that present and he asks his wife. When she, in an angry gesture, asks him to throw them in the fire and get rid of them, he sighs and suddenly remembers. Since the wife is observing him, and she seems surprised at his reaction, it is plausible to believe that she will eventually ask him about the meaning of that "sentimental trash," as she refered to it.

The wife will ask her husband to tell her about the violets and their meaning.