According to the passage describing war and its effects, the writer says that war is essentially what?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of the tone and main idea of a short passage about war. The text describes heavy loss of life and tragic outcomes for several characters, so we must infer the writer's attitude toward war from these details.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• The passage states that friend and foe alike were almost drowned in blood, suggesting extreme violence.
• Tony Vassall goes to battle and is killed.
• Patience receives a widow's pension and dies of grief.
• Many people die in those days, which is described as not strange at all, implying frequent death.

Concept / Approach:
To determine the writer's view, we focus on the consequences of war. The repeated mention of death, blood and grief strongly indicates that war is seen as destructive rather than trivial or beneficial.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: List the main events associated with war in the passage: deaths, bloodshed, widowhood and grief. Step 2: Consider what kind of adjective best summarises these events. Step 3: Compare the options: bloodless, partial, destructive and unimportant. Step 4: Recognise that destructive perfectly matches the heavy loss and suffering described. Step 5: Confirm that none of the other options fit the tone or the facts.

Verification / Alternative check:
If the writer wanted to say that war was unimportant or bloodless, the passage would not emphasise deaths and people almost drowned in blood. The details strongly support the idea of destruction.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Bloodless: The phrase drowned in blood directly contradicts this option.
Partial: This does not relate to the description; there is no suggestion that war is incomplete or limited in scope.
Unimportant: The large number of deaths and grief clearly show that war has serious, not trivial, consequences.

Common Pitfalls:
Sometimes learners jump to a figurative interpretation of phrases like drowned in blood, but in exam passages such strong images nearly always indicate a negative, destructive view of war.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is destructive, because the passage presents war as a force that brings widespread death, suffering and grief.