Question

Read these lines from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: The cold wind seemed to blow colder there than outside the gate; and it made a shrill noise in howling in and out at the open sides of the brewery, like the noise of wind in the rigging of a ship at sea. What overall impression does this description give of the house the narrator is approaching?

A. The house is forbidding and a bit frightening.
B. The house seems like an adventure to explore.
C. The house holds many unexpected surprises.
D. The house makes unexpected but light-hearted sounds.

Answer 1

After reading and noticing the words shrill, howling, noise of wind I feel the author is expressing A: forbidding and a bit frightening.
I don't find the words to be light-hearted, not unexpected surprises since he seems to know what wind in rigging sounds like. It doesn't lead me to want to explore it with the words shrill & howl.

That's my interpretation.