Read the excerpt from Part 2 of The Odyssey. Out of the cave

the mammoth Polyphemus roared in

‘Nohbdy, Nohbdy's tricked me, Nohbdy's ruined me!’
To this rough shout they made a sage reply:
‘Ah well, if nobody has played you foul
there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain
given by great Zeus. Let it be your father,
Poseidon Lord, to whom you pray.'

What theme is best revealed by this conflict?

Humor can relieve tense situations.
It is important to be loyal to friends and family.
Trickery is a valuable weapon in battle.
Riddles are best solved with many minds.

paine is arguying that they had tried everything before coming to the conclusion that they needed to fight for their freedom.

argument: "every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual."

claim 1: "our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and only tended to convince us, that nothing flatters vanity, or confirms obstinacy in kings more than repeated petitioning and nothing hath contributed more than that very measure to make the kings of europe absolute."

claim 2: "wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for god’s sake, let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child."