The statement that best interprets the purpose of the underlined imagery in this passage from A Night Ride in a Prairie Schooner is A): It suggests the reader that the boy is not very tough.
According to this excerpt, the boy is physically very similar to his father, he even acts and dresses like an adult, but from this underlined sentence we can understand that he is still a child that cries and is very sensitive. Those tears-stains show the reader that under his appearance, he can't hide his deep feelings as adult men are supposed to do.
