Which quotation from the passage best supports the theme that a feeling of guilt are difficult to escape

The first choice is the correct answer to show the quotation that supports the theme that feelings of guilt are difficult to escape: "O coward that I am, to live so long, /To see my best friend ta'en before my face!"

Explanation: Cassius is talking to Titanius as the enemies are running away. This is the point that Cassius starts to think that he has shown weakness to his men and lost their respect, due to a previous killing Cassius committed. He is now having second thoughts about the murder after the fact. Calling himself a "coward" shows his feeling of guilt. The difficult to escape part is best represented when he says, "to live so long..."

first of all the mood needs to be defined: it is obviously a mood of deceitful relief and serenity. why? because the cape horn is one of the most violent maritime regions of earth and although it has been left behind, it is a personification of ahab’s delirium and the fact that the end of the passage speaks about it about being “hidden” but “raving” immediately conveys the feeling the calm is not permanent but fleeting.

furthermore, the oxymoron “mild stun'sails” is the first instance of such feeling as the adjective “mild” is associated with “stunned” underscoring the fleeting nature of this “tranquil” moment. and the contrasts keep piling up, with the opposition between “dark den” and “blessed light and air” to end with the final conclusion that leaves the reader with the uneasy knowledge that this is just a reprieve.