John Steinbeck Figurative Language Analysis

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A Father’s Transformation Kino, a family man with a dream, transforms into something not human but quite opposite. Juana and Kino both lived in poverty until coming across the pearl. Though the pearl was a miracle, it soon converts Kino into an animal to a machine. John Steinbeck, the author, dehumanizes Kino using figurative language. Steinbeck first uses figurative language when Kino is compared to animals to show how he begins to lose his humanity. For example, when Kino fights with Juana, Steinbeck narrates, “He hissed at her like a snake” (59). Kino is compared to a hissing snake using a simile and shows his first stage of becoming an animal. His malevolence is a clear sign of things to come as his hiss connotes evil and intimidation. In addition, when Kino is on the ground of killing someone, Steinbeck narrates, “Kino moved sluggishly, arms and legs stirred like those of a crushed bug” (60). This supports my claim by displaying Kino moving like an animal using similes. This stage of being a crushed bug connotes disgust, death, and gore. In this stage Kino becomes an animal and soon will transition into a machine. Kino continues to lose his humanity when he is being compared to a machine …show more content…

For example, when Juana argues with Kino about the pearl, she tells Kino, “The pearl is like a sin” (38). The pearl is compared to a sin using a simile and reveals how Juana truly feels about the pearl as it connotes evil, envy, and greed. This supports the fact that the pearl converts Kino and that it isn’t benevolent. In addition, when Juan Tomas tells Kino to leave the pearl, Kino tells Juan, “The pearl has become my soul” (67). Kino is shown to have an obsession with the pearl and that it controls him. His commitment to the pearl connotes obsession, delusion, and compulsion. The pearl and it’s hold on Kino is why he is dehumanized as the book progresses

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