Figurative Language In The Pearl By John Steinbeck

The Scorpion of a Town Insert your topic sentence here. (In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the author uses blah blah blah to prove the points of blah blah points points.) Try not to follow the “road map” structure! Also, make sure not to repeat it in the concluding sentence. The first technique that John Steinbeck uses is repetition of sounds such as alliteration, assonance, and consonance. The author uses assonance in the phrase “Kino had found the Pearl of the World” (23) Although the phrase “Peal of the World” is only repeated once in the passage, it is repeated many more times in the story and has much significance later on. Why might the author have chosen to emphasize these particular words and phrases? Insert an awesome quote, “quote

Also, those words are most commonly used to describe whatever. Next, the author uses repetition in the sentence “... Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone” (23). By repeating “the”, each time with a different word following it (becoming more and more sinister), the author shows the progression of the town’s thoughts. Every person wants Kino’s pearl, as shown by using the words “schemes,” “needs,” and “hungers.” The obsession grows and grows. The reader can infer from this that one of the neighbors or someone else may attempt to take the pearl for him or herself, mainly because Steinbeck describes the people as “schem[ing].” Another example of repetition is in the quotation “...the black distillate was like the scorpion, or like hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when love is withheld” (23) The object of this repetition is to name things that are relatable for the reader. That makes the sentence easier to understand. For example, the author uses the words “like hunger in the smell of food”. Being hungry when one smells food is something most everyone can relate to, because it is something that happens

Now that the reader has a specific image in their head, the simile becomes more clear. Next, imagery is an important and widely used technique throughout the book. One example of that is the quotation “The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town swelled and puffed with the pressure of it” (23) This selection paints a very precise picture in the reader’s mind: one of a scorpion prepared to strike. The author compares the town to the scorpion, thus showing that the town is associated with negative qualities, because scorpions are very dangerous and Kino himself was affected by one in earlier chapters. The author uses this to show, not tell Kino’s fear of what his former friends will do. Furthermore, one can associate the events of this passage with the topic of appearance vs reality that Kino has experienced previously. In this passage, the author explains that Kino is truly alone ever since he found the pearl, allotting to the topic, because finding a valuable pearl might at first seem like great fortune, but can have unexpected consequences. Kino’s community used to be the people he trusted, but now that he has the pearl he has to be wary of