Which statement about Pearl's social treatment is supported by the text?

Which statement about Pearl's social treatment is supported by the text?

• A. She is scorned and looked down upon.
• B. She is celebrated as virtue.
• C. She is ignored by the Governor's household.
• D. She is adored by all.

Answer: (A)

Pearl’s treatment shows how a rigid Puritan society responds to a child born of sin. The text frames Pearl not as a beloved child, but as a living emblem of Hester’s transgression, an elf-like, uncanny presence that unsettles the community. In public, people whisper, stare, and distance themselves from both Pearl and her mother, treating Pearl more as a reminder of wrongdoing than as a person to be warmly welcomed. When Hester brings Pearl into the governor’s circle, she becomes a topic of fascination and unease for the leaders, who discuss what should be done with her rather than celebrate her as virtue. This combination of scorn, suspicion, and social pressure illustrates that Pearl is not adored or ignored in equal measure; she is treated as a symbol of sin to be faced, not as a child to be universally cherished.

Pearl’s treatment shows how a rigid Puritan society responds to a child born of sin. The text frames Pearl not as a beloved child, but as a living emblem of Hester’s transgression, an elf-like, uncanny presence that unsettles the community. In public, people whisper, stare, and distance themselves from both Pearl and her mother, treating Pearl more as a reminder of wrongdoing than as a person to be warmly welcomed. When Hester brings Pearl into the governor’s circle, she becomes a topic of fascination and unease for the leaders, who discuss what should be done with her rather than celebrate her as virtue. This combination of scorn, suspicion, and social pressure illustrates that Pearl is not adored or ignored in equal measure; she is treated as a symbol of sin to be faced, not as a child to be universally cherished.