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Kino from the Pearl Character Analysis
Negative impacts of greed
How steinbecks experiences effected his books
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Recommended: Kino from the Pearl Character Analysis
The horrific tragedies Kino and his family experienced was caused because of Kino’s own actions. Kino’s greed blinded him of how dangerous and evil the pearl was to his family and himself. In taking the pearl for himself he made the citizens of the town furious. The citizens burned Kino’s house down without a second thought to spare. Kino misguidedness injured and hurt his own family just to obtain the pearl. In the end, Kino wrong choices destroyed his life, hurt his own family, and murdered his baby boy using the pearl.
To start off, when Kino found the pearl he said to himself,” I will sell the pearl” (Steinbeck, pg 35). However, when given the price for the pearl, he refused to sell it in this town. The pearl buyers knew that most of his people would take the price. However, when Kino didn't take the price it left them angered. Kino’s bad choice was a result that left me angry. They planned to take the pearl by force and would stop at nothing until they got it. Not surprisingly that same day Kino’s house got lit on fire,
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Juana had argued with Kino countless of times about the pearl. She knew in her heart that the pearl was gonna cause trouble for them. Kino’s misguidedness meant that he was about to do something so idiotic that he will regret for the rest of his life. She ran to the beach ready to vanquish the pearl from her family, but Kino wasn’t about to allow that. He was behind Juana the entire time like a shadow. Then Kino attacked Juana, the Steinberg brutally describes this scene by saying,”He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side. In the pale light, he could see the little waves breaking over her, and her skirt floated about and clung to her legs as the water receded.”(59) He brutally beat up the person that he fell in love with. I despised Kino in for the rest of the book because of this
In The Pearl, Kino wants to sell the pearl for money, for several reasons. One of which is to help his dying baby, Coyotito. Kino ended up getting more greedy and wanted more and more from the pearl, that a bad ending was sure to happen. The author includes several bad events that happen, due to Kino's greed and attempts to mess with fate. For example, his baby died. This is sort of ironic because he wanted the pearl so he could make Coyotito better, but... A couple other examples of how Kino meets with disaster when his house burnt down and his canoe was trashed. On page 29 of this, Novel it says, “He knew that the gods don't take their revenge on a man if he be successful through his own efforts.” This shows that Kino knew what was going to happen, but didn't care because his greediness got the best of him. Likewise, in “The Monkey's Paw” Mr.White was careless, which ended up with him finding himself in the middle of a disaster. On pg 187, it says “...And that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.” Mr. White didn’t care, he was warned by the sergeant, when he said to him “Better let it burn.” because the sergeant knew it was bad and would bring great pain and sorrow and problems to Mr.White and his family, but he paid no attention to the sergeants
He is one of the most greedy person in this book.Kino Was perfectly fine in the beginning of the book, but then he found the pearl and turned his life upside down.Kino had a perfect relationship with his wife, but then “he struck her in the face,he cluched her with his fist and she fell among the boulders,and he kicked her in the side.Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared.He hissed at her like a snake, and Juana stared at him with wide UN frightened eyes,like a sheep before the butcher(59)”.Kino even got worse “When Juana tries to hid the pearl and Kino goes crazy and almost attacks her like a crazy man(38)”.But then there is this side of Kino when he first gets the pearl”When Kino thinks of all the things that the pearls wealth and money will do for them but not for anyone else(36)”.This is greedy because he only thinks of himself for the pearl.But Kino am greedy Most of the
“You had become so wrapped up in the pearl’s worth, that you were willing to hurt me, your own wife, in order to protect it! Greed surely played a role in this, as no right-minded man would ever assault his wife for the fun of it.” Kino spoke softly, unable to meet my gaze, “I am a man. I must never show weakness.” I didn’t believe Kino’s excuses, and I am pretty sure he didn’t either.
He is driven by greed, so much so that he could even see dreams form in the pearl. Kino is the head of a modest household and until he finds the pearl he lives a satisfied life with all he needs for his family to be happy. As soon as Kino finds the pearl he starts to want possessions he never wanted before. He dreams of education for Coyotito, marrying Juana in a Catholic church, purchasing new clothing for his family, and getting a harpoon and a rifle for himself. “It was the rifle that broke down the barriers . . . for it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more” (Steinbeck 32). Located within a small poverty-stricken community, a pearl diver named Kino finds “the Pearl of the World” and becomes suddenly rich, he begins to want items that he thought were impossible before. As Kino thinks more and more of what the pearl can do for him, he starts to think that it will raise his social status as well. This is only the beginning of Kino’s greediness, for the more he gets, the more he will want, and this begins to dehumanize him. Kino focuses on the wealth of the pearl and causes him to change his values about life. In the beginning, Kino is only focused on his family, once Kino finds the pearl he becomes more focused on the pearl, rather than his family. Kino cares a lot more about losing the pearl rather than something bad happening to his loved
Kino found one of the most valuable and precious pearls in the world and being convinced of its worth was not going to be cheated by only minimally upgrading his condition of life. Instead he wanted to break the fixed life and role that he and his family had and always would live. Kino refuses the maximum offer of fifteen hundred pesos that would easily ease his and his family’s pain and suffering for the coming months. Kino is then determined to trek to the capital to find a fair and just offer. Kino continues determined through the mountains after an attempt at the pearl, his canoe destroyed and his hut set a blaze. Continuing to put his family’s life on the line. It eventually takes the death of his beloved son Coyotito to make him realize he needs to stop being so greedy, no matter how hard he tries and to shut his mouth and know his role.
Although it could be argued that they are simply selfish, dishonest characters, their desire to oppress Kino and ‘keep’ him poor could also come from a subconscious ideology that a person must not try to change the ‘post’ into which he was born. Kino, however, sees through the pearl buyers’ scam and plans to travel to the capital to sell the pearl for a greater price.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Readers can tell from the statement that many of the people Kino encounters after finding the pearl become bitter “friends”. At this point, Kino and Juana begin to realize that the pearl is bringing bad luck upon them. They are taken advantage of by the doctor and he decides to visit them after knowing they have the pearl. “This pearl is like a sin”(56). Juana begins to realize the pearl is bringing them bad luck, but Kino still trusts that it’s a gift. Readers can also assume that people are trying to take the pearl when Kino is suddenly attacked during the night. “Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long…”(56). Readers can now confirm that the pearl has changed and now represents evil. The pearl also begins to destroy Kino and Juana’s relationship as they have different opinions on what to do with the pearl. After Kino wakes up and follows Juana when she wakes up and walks out, readers know he has started to lose full trust in her. “He rolled up to his feet and followed her silently as she had gone” (58). Through the symbolism of the pearl and what it brings upon Kino and Juana, the author emphasizes how the pearl is not what it first appears to be, which was
At the beginning of the book Kino and Juana lived a happy good life until their first and only child Coyotito got stung by a scorpion. The one-second that it took the scorpion to bite Coyotito changed the rest of Kino and Juana's life forever. Kino could not afford to pay for the medical attention Coyotito needed. Kino was determined to find a great pearl that could pay the doctor to save his son. "Kino in his pride and youth and strength, could remain down over two minutes without strain, so that he worked deliberately, selecting the largest shells."(Pg. 18)
In The Pearl, Kino thought because he was rich and he had the Pearl of the World that he was more superior and he did not realize the harm and destruction it was bringing towards his family. “ He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side.”(59). In this final quote from The Pearl, Kino is abusing Juana when she tries to throw the pearl in the
As a woman back in this time, she does not have much freedom. She does all the housework and takes care of the child. She is first punished for stepping out of her place when she disobeys her husband and tries throwing out the pearl. Kino, being the man in the family, decides what will be done with the pearl. It is not Juana's choice, as a woman to decide what is to be done with it.
She felt that this pearl was evil and no good and it was going to bring them no good she went to throw the pearl back and Kino got up and chased her to the water threw her to the ground kicking and punching her then he went back to his house and found more intruders. He fought the intruder and killed him, but then his brush house catches on fire and he realizes he needs to leave town. This illustrates how greed can lead to very unexpected
For Kino the pearl changed him but in every stage that it hit him, one was greed, making him worst. However it wasn’t just him who had greed, the whole town, pretty much everyone wanted the pearl. The author stated, “Every man suddenly became related to Kino's pearl, and 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, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man's enemy. " When the author stated this, you can see how everyone changed, and didn’t like Kino anymore, just for a
This leads to change and, eventually, downfall. Before he finds the pearl, Kino “was a well-liked man” (43), and adored by all of his neighbors. Everyone looked up to his kindness and sympathy, but when he finds the Pearl, he changes. The pearl takes control over him, and he becomes too obsessed with getting his money. He loses his many things over it: “now it is my misfortune and my life and I will keep it” (66). The neighbors even suspect, “‘what a pity it would be if the pearl should destroy them all.’” (43) For example, KIno loses his family when he tries to protect the pearl and defies the pearl buying system, and when he mishandles Juana. Loisng his canoe symbolizes thi sloss of his family. He also loses his sanity. he beats Juana and kills four men. He “‘killed a man’” (61) and joins in many fights. For greed, he turns down the salesman`s offer for the pearl and ends with nothing left. Kino has the chance to take the money offered to him and be done, but he is greedy and he wants more. Then, at the end of the book, Kino throws the pearl into the sea, and with it, all the money he could possibly gain. He also lets the doctor treat Coyotito, even with his doubts, and now can not pay him because the pearl is his payment method, which is now gone. He thinks his money is secure, and in his mind, he is a rich man. This is not necessarily true, as readers learn, and because he was so secure, he must now pay for unnecessary
“Let us throw it back into the sea. It has brought evil.” Juana stated this to Kino when unidentified figures attempted to steal the pearl. Greed has swelled within the community as well as Kino. Kino’s life prior to the discovery of the pearl was simple, never having experienced a burglary.
The pearl evokes multiple reactions from a variety of people; Kino sees it as a blessing and an opportunity to change his life. In the