Who is Mr. Pearson from Collected Stories of William Faulkner and what is their importance?

Mr. Pearson is an investigator with the war draft board in Jackson. He has been sent to arrest boys Anse and Lucius for not signing up for selective service. Mr. Pearson begins with the idea that the boys are trying to avoid the draft and might even run away to avoid being arrested. After he learns the story of the boys' family and listens to the marshal talk about their family values Mr. Pearson begins to understand the boy's weren't avoiding the draft at all. Although this man is referred to by his given name once in the story, he is most often simply called the investigator.