What does Marlow mean when he says that England "has been one of the dark places of the Earth?" A. At night, when the sun goes down, England gets dark like any other place B. It was once a wild place that was conquered by outsiders. C. The people of England go out and wreak destruction on other lands D. Mature adults have no need to hate or fear darkness

   B.   It was once a wild place that was conquered by outsiders.

Explanation:

A) The word suggests a tragic tone.

Explanation: in the excerpt we can see the description of a woman and her son, and also the brief description of a situation: that the woman's husband and her two older sons had been deported by mistake, separating her from her family. After that, we see the word shattered, which gives us the idea of how this situation really affected her, so the answer is that the word suggests a tragic tone.