What theme of richard connell’s story “the most dangerous game” comes through in this excerpt?
“…we should have some good hunting up the amazon. great sport, hunting."
"the best sport in the world."
"for the hunter," amended whitney. "not for the jaguar."
"don't talk rot, whitney," said rainsford. "you're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. who cares how a jaguar feels? "
"perhaps the jaguar does," observed whitney.
"bah! they've no understanding."
"even so, i rather think they understand one thing—fear. the fear of pain and the fear of death."

Although there could be many interpretations of this excerpt, a possible one is that it expresses the theme of reason vs. instinct. The dialogue between the two characters makes this clear. When discussing the qualities of hunting, Rainsford argues that the way the jaguar experiences the sport is irrelevant. This is because jaguars cannot reason. On the other hand, Whitney believes "reason" is not the only thing that needs to be taken into account. Jaguars have instinct, which gives rise to feelings such as fear.

the question concerns exactly this part of the speech:

i am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. property can be paid for; the lives of the peaceful and innocent people cannot be.

president wilson talks about the lives of people destroyed by german army. but these people are not americans, they are the local people living in europe. the president mentions the barbarity of germans, considering that he is not targeting the nation, instead it is said about german army. the correct answer is the last one.