The Following Is an Excerpt from a Sketch of London

The following is an excerpt from a sketch of London life in 1870 written from the perspective of a newcomer from the countryside (Evaluating the Evidence 22.1) : "Self-dependence is another habit peculiarly of London growth. Men soon discover they have no longer the friend, the relative or the neighbour of their own small town to fall back upon. . . . No doubt there are warm friendships and intimacies in London as well as in the country, but few and far between. People associate more at arm's length, and give their hand more readily than their heart, and hug themselves within their own domestic circles. You know too little of people to be deeply interested either in them or their fortunes, so you expect nothing and are surprised at nothing. An acquaintance may depart London life, and even this life, or be sold up and disappear, without the same surprise or making the same gap as in a village circle."
The author implies that people in London, in contrast to people in the countryside,

A) fill important roles in the social life of the community as a whole.
B) are uneducated and lack curiosity.
C) care little for their neighbors.
D) are self-dependent.