Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[imchongjun]

Hello, teachers.
I am slightly puzzled with the last sentence of the following dialog.

(The speakers are both exiles and are living in Africa)
"Are you content to live and die like this?" he demanded. "Don't you want to get back to where a different sort of sun will warm your heart and fill your pulses? This primitive world is in its way colossal, but it isn't human, it isn't a life for humans. We want streets, Von Ragastein, you and I. We want the tide of people flowing around us, the roar of wheels and the hum of human voices. Curse these animals! If I live in this country much longer, I shall go on all fours."
"You yield too much to environment," his companion observed. "In the life of the cities you would be a sentimentalist."
"No city nor any civilised country will ever claim me again," Dominey sighed. "I should never have the courage to face what might come."
(The Great Impersonation from Project Gutenberg)

Does the last sentence (I should never have the courage...) mean "even if I would be able to go back to a civilized country, I am afraid that I would never be able to live decently"? I appreciate your help very much.

[pugachevV]

It means he would be afraid of the future in any city, or civilised country.

[imchongjun]

Thank you for your comment. That's what I needed to know.