Why do the leaders of the town believe that pearl could be a negative influence on hester in the book the scarlet letter

Pearl is a very conflicting character. Her attitude and actions can be interpreted in many different ways as she has a remarkably multi-faceted personality. We see she's a very special and intelligent child, but often her behavior shows glimpses of a darker side as she seems to hurt Hester's emotions on purpose at times. It'd be easy to interpret Pearl as the personification of Hester's sin and a negative force in her life, like many leaders of the town do. But we have to remember she's just a child, and ultimately ends up helping her mother to move on.

Hope this helps!

adverb is the answer i believe.

it took the same time to travel by as it did on   train : ) hope i