The teenage years what is message of the poem

What is the narrators main conflict in this passage

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?

Boss: oh no! that’s the phone again! secretary: blank boss: . a. shall i take it? b. will you answer it? c. can you do me a favor? d. may i hang it up?