The question says Editha" by William Dean Howells is a story about characters who ritualistically follow the popular beliefs and norms of society even though they may be ignorant and emotionally distanced from actual facts and circumstances.
And then it asks us Which two lines in the excerpt suggest this character trait?
So we are looking for the lines that have the character trait.
Since i have the excerpt with the choices I found that (George's father had settled there after the Civil War, as so many other old soldiers had done) and (her father standing decorously apart with his hat on his forearm, as at funerals;) should be the correct answer.
