Many people worship the value of a sparkling pearl, but I however, despise it. How one small object can determine the fate of man, I do not know. Nevertheless, it is clear to me that this pearl has brought evil upon my family and I will have no more of it. A while back, Kino discovered a valuable pearl and thought it had signified the end of our troubles. Sadly, his prediction was overcome by evil and we are now living lives even worse than before. I must convince Kino to go home and dispose of the pearl because it has negatively changed his personality, and has put our family in grave danger.
“Kino, look at what the pearl has done to us! Don’t you think it’s time to give up?” I asked, as I held Coyotito softly in my arms.
“I am a man,” Kino replied in an exhausted tone. “I shall never give up.”
I pushed further, eager to leave the cave and get rid of the pearl, “But look at what has become of you! You have now become a man of selfishness and greed. This evil pearl has completely changed your personality!”
Kino grunted in response, “I am not acting with greed. I am simply searching for a better life.”
“Kino, you have defied the pearl buyers and passed up 1,500 dollars!” I sighed as I pictured the large bundle of money we could have gained. “We would have prospered with all of that cash, but the pearl has filled you with greed. Only a greedy man would reject such a large amount of money. The pearl caused that greed and should therefore be thrown away.
Kino looked from me to the baby, “I was being cheated. I knew I could sell it for more money.”
“Well how do you explain your behavior the morning I tried to throw away the pearl?” I asked, remembering the sharp pain of his clenched fist making contact with my jaw. “You had become so w...
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...aid with a slight hesitation.
I look at him questioningly, “We also lost our prized canoe. Surely this proves to you how dangerous of a situation this is. We have always deeply relied on the canoe for food. Since the canoe was destroyed, we can no longer get food, and when people are without food, they have very slim chances of survival, which produces huge threats of danger to our family!” I pause before making my final appeal. “Kino, this pearl is pure evil! We must get rid of it before it is too late!” I say in desperation.
In conclusion, Kino and I must return to the village and throw away the pearl because it is has completely changed his personality and placed our family in jeopardy. The pearl has brought evil to our family and has not helped us prosper in any way. Therefore, this pearl is useless and evil, and should not be a part of our family any longer.
“He who wants everything everytime will lose everything, anytime”- Vikrant Parsai. This famous quote supports the theme of “Greed and materialism left unchecked, can lead to immoral behavior such as violence” in the book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Kino and Juana find the pearl of the world while Kino gets a little too obsessed with the pearl. Juana tries to hide it and make everything better, but everything backfires on her . Kino goes crazy about what Juana tries to do to help him and does things no one would ever imagine.With this in mind, all the readers will look at how greed is expressed through characters,and even Kino himself and symbolism.
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
One of the most common and prominent themes of The Pearl is greed. One of the first examples of this is when Kino went to the doctor to beg for treatment, but the doctor responded, "‘Has he any money?’ the doctor demanded. ‘No, they never have money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing- and I am tired of it. See if he has any money!’” (Steinbeck 11). Many would consider it unethical to refuse treatment to someone simply because of their poverty. The doctor refusing to cure the ill child shows how greed has corrupted him to the point of having an innocent baby die rather than offering up his services for free. Another early instance of greed was when the news of the pearl “came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wondered what the pearl would be worth” (Steinbeck 21). Even the people of God, those believed to have the highest morals, became materialistic. He who is supposed to be satisfied with just the love of the lord suddenly hungered for more. This greed eventually came to Kino when Juana suggested throwing away the pearl, but Kino replied, “‘No,’ he said. ‘I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We
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
To me, John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl, doesn’t really relate to me or my lifestyle in many ways. However, there are a couple of things I found that were similar in my lifestyle. I wake up every morning and strive to reach the best I can be. I go to school, work hard, and try to reach my best in all that I do. I have found this to be similar to Kino. Kino wakes up every morning and tries to give his family everything possible. He works very hard in finding his pearls and always tries to look for the best in his family. However, when Kino found the pearl and after many tries of getting rid of it, his life turned upside down. Juanita warned Kino many times, but he didn’t listen. Kino encountered many hardships including his son’s death, his house burning to ashes, and his family falling apart. From this, I have learned that when a person finds something that he think can bring something good into a family, he might be wrong because it might actually destroy his family and his life. Clearly, family relationships are very important and in this case, Kino was too late and realized this after his son Coyotito died.
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.
Before gaining the pearl, Kino was a kind young man who worked hard to keep his family alive. He was not a criminal, nor did he have bad intentions in life. He loved family, because that’s all he had. But Kino then discovers the pearl and his life is changed, for the worse. We see this when Kino “looked into the [pearl] for his rifle, but he saw only a huddled dark body on the ground with shining blood dripping from its throat...
One example of this universal theme of humanity’s struggle with violence that occurred in this novel happened when Kino violently attacked his wife to keep her from throwing his “precious” pearl into the sea. “ . . . he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. He struck her in the face with ...
Kino is hopeful in the beginning of the novel, and the power of the pearl is purely good. When he finds the “Pearl of the World” he begins to think his luck has turned for the better. Coyotito appears to be healed and Kino decides he will keep the money from the pearl for his family, but when they return to the doctor he advises Kino and his wife, Juana, to have the baby treated. The baby is treated and they plan to pay the doctor t...
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito go back to the beach and row out to an oyster bed, where he begins to search for the pearl. As Kino continues to search, Juana takes things into her own hands after being refused by the doctor and sucks the poison out of Coyotito and then puts seaweed on the wound, unknowingly healing him. Meanwhile Kino gathers several small oysters but suddenly comes across a particularly large oyster. He picks the oyster up and returns to the surface. When Kino opens the oyster he discovers the pearl. Word that the pearl has been discovered travel through the town quickly. People in the town became jealous of Kino and his family which eventually leads to a great deal of harm.
For example, Kino was given the chance to get rid of the pearl many times. He could have given the pearl to the doctor or priest. He also could have sold the pearl for the 1,500 pesos the pearl buyers offered. That itself is a large sum of money. Kino should have been grateful and taken the money. The voices of reason were with Kino throughout most of these events. Steinbeck mentions, “Perhaps, some argued, perhaps it would have been better if Kino took the one thousand five hundred pesos.” (53) One voice(s) of reason was his neighbors. They said that Kino should have taken the money. Kino’s brother Juan Tomás was also there to provide reason. Juan repeatedly stated that Kino should get rid of the pearl as soon as the chance pops up. The biggest voice of reason was Kino’s wife, Juana. Not only did she try to reason with Kino, she also tried to get rid of the pearl herself. Juana states in the story that Kino needed to get rid of the pearl as it is evil. One night she tries to take the pearl and throw it in the ocean. If Kino had just let it go, the pearl would have been gone, and their troubles would have
Juana, Kino’s wife, had tried to return the pearl in chapter 5 of the book because she was able to see all the madness it was causing and she wanted it no longer. The pearl itself was never evil but the people gave it more power than it actually needed or had which caused people to go crazy. Kino had originally wanted the pearl to pay Coyotito medical bill and to help Coyotito out school wise. But everyone believes the pearl is powerful because “Coyotito is getting better from the homemade remedy seaweed poultice” which had been a “miracle” accompanied by the discovery of the pearl. Juana was trying to return the pearl but Kino had followed her out to the beach “ rage surges in Kino.. and his brain is red with anger when he hears his wife get up in the darkness of the night and takes the pearl from it’s hiding place. He follows Juana down to the water, and just as she raises her arm to hurl the pearl into the sea, he leaps at her and catches her arm and wrenches the pearl from her… he strikes her in the face with his clenched fist and she falls among the boulders, and he kicks her in the side” (Chapter 5). Kino knew that if Juana had been successful in putting the pearl into the sea, he would lose all the power he had stored for himself and the pearl as well, and he just couldn't deal with that. Juana was okay with this beating though because he is “a
As Kino approaches the pearl buyer’s store, the pearl buyer graciously flips a coin between his fingers. As the sound of stomping feet gets nearer, “the fingers worked faster and faster until, as the figure of Kino filled the doorway, the coin flashed and disappeared” (Steinbeck 62). The pearl buyer keeps a calm, relaxed face when talking to Kino but secretly “his fingers worked with a furious pace” (Steinbeck 63). The coin symbolizes the pearl buyer’s anxiousness and excitement to see such a beautiful pearl. As Kino reveals the pearl and drops it on the desk, “there was no sign, no movement, the buyer’s face did not change, but the secret hand behind the desk missed in its precision. The coin stumbled over a knuckle and slipped silently into the dealer’s lap” (Steinbeck 63). The buyer then offers Kino a demoralizing deal and the fingers began to roll over another coin in his
An example of Kino’s newest behavior is when he physically attacks Juana to get the pearl back. “He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, he kicked her in the side.”(59) In the beginning of the story Kino believed that the pearl would bring him and his wife closer. He believed that they would get married and their son would go to school and they would be a happy family because of the pearl. Unfortunately, things don’t go as Kino had planned them and the pearl causes Kino to act hostile towards his family, which results in the start of them growing apart. Kino is starting to value the pearl more than he values the safety and happiness of himself of those closest to
Steinbeck paints a true painting of the pearl through Kino’s eyes when he writes, “And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of the head shot away. And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth. And the Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane (86).” Materialism is nothing but a counterfeit, a lie, an illusion of the true pearl; the family.