More handpicked essays just for you.
A lesson before dying literary analysis
A lesson before dying literary analysis
A lesson before dying literary analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Action of The Pearl
The discovery of the "magnificent" pearl changed the lives of Kino and Juana severely because they were not used to this kind of wealth. Before they found the pearl, Kino and Juana lived a happy, humble and quiet life. "Kino heard the little splash of the morning waves on the beach. It was very good - Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music."(Pg. 1-2) Kino loved the simple life; nevertheless whenever things were beginning to look good and simple something went wrong.
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)
After Kino found his great pearl bad things started happening, Kino and Juana's lives were in trouble. Two men notified in the book as the "dark ones" tried to steal the pearl, luckily Kino had been prepared and got rid of the enemies but that was not the end of the misery. Coyotito got very sick and the Doctor had deliberately made things worse. When it was time to sell the pearl, the buyers offered prices that Kino thought were too low. Kino was angry with the pearl buyers for what they had said. "I will not make an offer at all. I do not want it. This is not a pearl - it is a monstrosity." Kino got angry and decided he wanted to go elsewhere and find a buyer for the pe...
... middle of paper ...
...g was alive now…" Since there is not much talking in the book especially between Kino and Juana another form of communication was the singing of songs and the hearing of music. A way of Juana and Kino to agree with each other is to be singing the same song at the same time.
In conclusion this novel has taken a poor greedy man and has put him through hell. First his son was bitten buy a scorpion and the man is determined to save his baby by finding a great pearl to sell and get money to pay the doctor to save his son. The man has murdered and decides to escape his town with his family. Some trackers, who the man bravely kills, followed the man and his family in the woods. After the battle his sick son, who was the reason he got in the whole mess with the pearl and murdering, died. Overall, The Pearl was filled with action, love, enemies, and family
“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.
In the novel, the main character, Kino, goes out to find a pearl in hopes of getting money to pay the doctor to treat Coyotito, his son, who has been bitten by a scorpion. Kino discovers the biggest pearl anyone has ever seen, and believes the pearl will bring nothing but good for him and his family. The pearl does change the lives of Kino, his wife Juana, and Coyotito, but not in the way he had hoped. When the people in La Paz find out about Kino’s pearl, he is visited by a greedy priest and doctor, the deceitful pearl buyers try to scam him into selling it to them for less than it’s worth, and the pearl was almost stolen twice. Kino kills the second thief in self-defense...
Kino, the main character in “The Pearl”, starts off by being a loving, helpful companion to his lover Juana. The two are so connected they barely feel the need to talk to each other. Their life is almost perfect, until a scorpion stings their baby, Coyotito. Because the couple has very little money, the doctor will not cure Coyotito and says, “have I nothing
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
In the book The Pearl, the pearl buyers showed greed in many ways. One way the pearl buyers did this was when one said “You have fool’s gold. This pearl is like fool’s gold. It is to large. Who would buy it? There is no marketer such things” (p.49).In other words they tried to trick Kino into giving less money for
The pharmaceutical industry is booming; the war on drugs is escalating. Are these statistics unconnected or do they reveal a deeper insight into our society? What factors influence our moral perception of drugs? What separates the good drugs from bad ones? In Shenk's words, "When does the legal relief of pain become illegal pursuit of pleasure?" To answer these surprisingly difficult questions, we must examine drugs themselves-the origins of their legality and the reasons given for their moral status. This examination will reveal some misguided explanations to the questions above-explanations that have obscured a more urgent problem in ...
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.
Shiromoto, Frank N., and Sooren, Edgar F. Drugs & Drinks: Painful Questions. Monterey, CA: Choice Press, 1988.
First of all, Kino and Juana think the pearl is a great gift when they first discover it, but when bad fortune if brought upon them, they realize the pearl brings bad luck. In
There is a large variety of recreational drugs available today and it is evident that they do not all have only detrimental effects. There are essentially two categories of drugs: mind expanding drugs and mind constricting drugs. It might also be useful to consider a category of drugs which are neither mind expanding or mind constricting, though, it would be difficult to find any recreational drugs which would fit in this category. The division of categories should be based on how the drug affects intellectual stimulation. The drugs in the mind expanding category should broaden the scope of perception and knowledge for the user. The drug should educate the user and "expand" the user's mind. The drugs in the mind constricting category should deter the user from learning, and even if one did claim to gain some sort of knowledge from the high, the knowledge, in the end, would amount to meaningless, confused thought. The rare drugs which stimulate violence, such as angel dust, must definitely be considered mind-constricting because not only does the user not gain knowledge from the experience, but the user destroys self-control and liberty and triggers desires to act immorally. This division of drugs into categories does seem to be of the nature of platonic perfectionism but the ideology is not entirely based on this ethical theory and some arguments might seem to conflict with its philosophy.
If you were given a million dollars, what would you do? Spend it in a short amount of time? Or save it responsibly for the future? Many would say the latter, confident that they will accomplish that. But for a few, it doesn’t turn out that way. In the book, The Pearl, a family, Kino, Juana and their child, Coyotito, go through various hardships after they have found a pearl, eventually losing everything they had loved. With three examples from the novel, I will explain what the pearl in the book symbolizes.
With the use of drugs being such a controversial issue in today’s society we felt as a group it was important to further explore this issue. As we possess a high interest in how drugs affect a number of social groups. These groups of course range from young teens to high-class older individuals who will have different reasons and different acceptable standards of behaviour.
pearl is so big that it has no value. Kino has to hide the pearl, but while he sleeps a thief tries to steal it. The doctor who would not treat Coyotito's scorpion bite when they had no money now comes to them offering the best medical care he can provide.As the story of Kino's situation unfolds, Kino is forced to kill three men, and worst of all, Kino accidentally shoots Coyotito in the head while he is trying to shoot his pursuers. Finally, at Juana's urging, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. He has made nothing from his fin...
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.
Few people deny the dangers of drug use, while many teens are curious about drugs. They should stay away from drugs because drugs affect our health, lead to academic failure, and jeopardizes safety. Drugs are used from a long period of time in many countries. The concentration of drugs has increased from late 1960’s and 1970’s. Drugs can quickly takeover our lives. Friends and acquaintance have the greatest influence of using drugs during adolescence.