Question 14 of 15 Read the following esserpt from John Gardner's Grendet
They were gray as old ashes, faceless, eyeless. They
spread the surface of the water with pure green flame. I
knew - I seemed to have known all along - that the
snakes were there to guard something. Inevitably, after I'd
stood there a while, rolling my eyes back along the dark
hallway, my ears cocked for my mother's step, I screwed
my nerve up and dove (16).
Which phrase from this excerpt most clearly evokes empathy for Grendel?