The Pearl

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Recommended: Main themes in the pearl

The Pearl

Theme: The main idea of this story is definitely bad luck. Kino and his family are poor but they have somewhat decent health. However when Coyotito gets sick and the Pearl is found that all changes. What this book is trying to say is that money is not everything in life. And in some cases, it brings bad luck. Money can also bring greed, as in the doctor’s case.

Setting: This story takes place in a small village somewhere near the sea. The inhabitants of this village are predominantly poor Indians who have very small living quarters. There is also a higher class area of this village where the doctor lives. However that area is secluded from the area in which the Indians live in.

Conflict and Resolution: There was one main conflict in this story for Kino and his family. It was when Coyotito was bitten by the scorpion. Kino find a pearl to pay for Coyotito’s treatment with. To make a long story short, Coyotito is eventually killed just because they have the pearl.(even though he was killed by accident )

Plot: The book all started out when Coyotito was bitten by a scorpion. To cure the bite, Coyotito is taken to the doctor’s office. The doctor refuses to treat baby Coyotito just because Kino does not have any money. To pay for the treatment, Kino goes out looking for a pearl to sell and pay the doctor with. After hours of looking, Kino finds a pearl the size of a sea gull’s egg. Word of this find quickly spread through town, and eventually made its way to the doctor. The doctor suddenly changed his mind about treating Coyotito. He examined Coyotito but instead of giving him medicine to feel better, he gave him poison. The doctor also acted as though he had never heard anything ...

... middle of paper ...

...must get money for pearl” journey for Kino.

Style: The author of this book, John Steinbeck had a very good use of description for his characters. He used in depth detail and made a boring book somewhat interesting. Not a lot of dialogue was used in this book,which could of made it easier to follow. Not many characters were used in this story, which I thought made the book easier to understand and easier to dislike.

Opinion:I thought that this was an interesting book right off the bat. Yet as i read further into the book, especially towards the end i began to get tired and felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. There was not a very good description of characters, I did not get to really know anybody in the book enough to really understand them much. Overall I would have to say this is a good book but definitely not Pulitzer prize material.

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