Unquestionably a literary life is for the most part an unhappy life; because, if you have genius, you must suffer the penalty of genius; and if you have only talent, there are so many cares and worries incidental to the circumstances of men of letters, as to make life exceedingly miserable. Besides the pangs of composition, and the continuous disappointment which a true artist feels at his inability to reveal himself, there is the ever-recurring difficulty of gaining the public ear. Young writers are buoyed up by the hope and the belief that they have only to print to be acknowledged at once as a new light in literature. You can never convince a young author that the editors of magazines and the publishers of books are a practical body of men, who are by no means frantically anxious about placing the best literature before the public. Nay, that for the most part they are mere brokers, who conduct their business on the hardest lines of a Profit and Loss account. But supposing your book fairly launched, its perils are only beginning. You have to run the gauntlet of the critics.
To a young author, again, this seems to be as terrible an ordeal as passing down the files of Sioux or Comanche Indians, each one of whom is thirsting for your scalp. When you are a little older, you will find that criticism is not much more serious than the bye-play of clowns in a circus, when they beat around the ring the victim with bladders slung at the end of long poles. A time comes in the life of every author when he regards critics as comical rather than formidable, and goes his way unheeding. But there are sensitive souls that yield under the chastisement and, perhaps after suffering much silent torture, abandon the profession of the pen for ever. Keats, perhaps, is the saddest example of a fine spirit hounded to death by savage criticism; because, whatever his biographers may aver, that furious attack of Gifford and Terry undoubtedly expedited his death. But no doubt there are hundreds who suffer keenly hostile and unscrupulous criticism, and who have to bear that suffering in silence, because it is a cardinal principle in literature that the most unwise thing in the world for an author is to take public notice of criticism in the way of defending himself. Silence is the only safeguard, as it is the only dignified protest against insult and offence.
What is the general response of the editors and publishers towards young authors?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → They are very hostile
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, there appears to be a discrepancy in the key: the correct answer should be Option (4) → They are highly indifferent, as explained below.
The passage describes editors and publishers as "a practical body of men" who are "by no means frantically anxious" about placing the best literature before the public. For the most part they are "mere brokers" who run their business on the lines of a profit and loss account. In other words, they are not moved by the young author's hopes at all.
Option 1: They are very sympathetic — Incorrect. Contradicted: sympathetic means showing care and understanding for someone's feelings. The passage shows editors thinking only of profit and loss, not of the young author's feelings.
Option 2: They are very hostile — Should be Incorrect. (But this is the correct answer in the NTA Answer Key.) Hostile means unfriendly and opposed to someone. The passage does not show editors acting against young authors. The hostility in the passage comes from the critics, who are compared to warriors "thirsting for your scalp".
Option 3: They are very welcoming — Incorrect. Contradicted: editors who are "by no means anxious" to publish the best literature are not eager to receive new writers.
Option 4: They are highly indifferent — Should be Correct. (Incorrect as per NTA) Indifferent means having no particular interest or concern. Editors who are not anxious about good literature and act as mere brokers are indifferent to the young author: they neither help him nor oppose him. They think only of the trade.
Example: The shopkeeper was indifferent to our complaints and went on counting his money.
Advice for the exam: In the real exam, mark the answer that is grammatically or factually correct. If NTA’s provisional answer key marks a different option, challenge it during the answer-key challenge window and give the reason in one or two lines.