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Multiple meanings in the novel called the pearl
Characters and characterisation in the pearl
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The main characters are Kino, Juana, and Coyotito. The first character, Kino, is an adventurous and risky man. He is the father of Coyotito and is the husband of Juana. He is a very risky man because on pages 86-87, it shows Kino taking risks by grasping the rifle even as he wrenched free his knife (86-87) and on page 87 it also shows Kino taking risks by he whirled and struck the head of the seated man who was the person following him like a melon. The Pearl shows Kino is adventurous on many pages, but there is one page in particular and that is page 81. Page 81 states, “ You must go up there. Perhaps they will not find us up there.” This particular page happens to be Kino, Coyotito, and Juana traveling to the mountains after Kino has spotted three trackers following them because they want Kino’s pearl. …show more content…
She is the mother of Coyotito and the wife of Kino. By the way, Kino and Juana are not married (just to throw that out there). Juana is scared because she is afraid that her non-married husband might get caught by the trackers. Now, poor little Coyotito. Coyotito is young and innocent. He is the toddler (son) of Kino and Juana. Throughout the whole book, Coyotito is a young toddler who is innocent in the whole book. Coyotito is so innocent, that at the end of the book he gets killed by one of the trackers. The Pearl takes place in La Paz, Mexico in the year of 1947. It also takes place around the Gulf of Mexico in the same year. The Gulf of Mexico is important to this book because that is where Kino found the pearl of the world. The pearl is perfect as a moon, captured light and refined as it gave back in its incandescence. It was large as a seagull’s egg. La Paz, Mexico is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. Next, is the plot of The Pearl. In the exposition, that’s were we meet all the main
...hes her in the face and kicks her. He is disgusted with her. He then turns and leaves. Kino makes his way up the beach as a group of men assault him. Kino struggles to get away and while doing so he stabs one of the men and kills him. Juana finally gets on her feet and begins to make her way home. She sees Kino lying on the group hurt with another man dead next to him. She hauls the dead man into the brush and tends to Kino. She says they must run away immediately because of what a terrible crime Kino committed. Kino refuses at first, but then agrees. Juana runs back to the house grabs Coyotito, while Kino goes to the beach once again to prepare his boat, but realizes that the group of men made a hole in it. He becomes full of rage and kicks at the water. He then tells Juana what happened and they decide to hide at Juan Tomas’s house for a while.
Set during the colonial era in Mexico, the story reveals the subjugation that the natives had to face and it shows the protagonist’s, Kino’s, attempt to go against the norms of the society and ask for something that was frankly unrealistic. This part of the story is related to the creative lens because Kino tried very hard to secure a future for his family but because the circumstances were not in his favor, he failed. It wasn’t socially accepted to ask for an education or a court marriage at that time for the natives because a native cannot desire to have what the colonists have. In this part of the story, the author uses the literary element of conflict to convey the message that even though Kino had the means to secure a future for himself, because he is a native and because he is aspiring to go against the social norms, he will eventually fail. As a result, it is clearly proven in The Pearl that humans will try to achieve something farfetched and will be unsuccessful in doing
"The Pearl" is about a poor man named Kino, his wife Juana, and their baby boy
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
1. I think it is ironic that Kino is being followed by trackers because all throughout the story, Kino makes connections with animals. Kino and Juana are compared to being animals that are chased down by hunters. As Kino is supposedly an animal, it is ironic because trackers are known to follow animals. Just like animals, Kino and Juana try to escape the hunters, going to the mountains, where there is high elevation, something an animal would do. Another example of Kino’s comparison to an animal is when Kino needs to find a strategy in which the trackers won’t see him, so he takes off his clothes (what us, humans wear), as an animalistic technique, since animals don’t wear clothes. His own son also “becomes” an animal, at least to the trackers, who think the baby’s cry was a coyote cry, and this causes Coyotito’s death by a gunshot from them. This also brings us to the irony of Coyotito’s name, and as readers, we find out why he was named this at the end of the story. Steinbeck also describes the characters literally as animals; for example, “Kino hissed at her like a snake, and Juana stared at him with wide, unfrightened eyes like a sheep before the butcher.” Not only does this help us picture what is going on, but the author is also trying to make more references to animals. These are only a few of the examples of when the author creates animal imagery/ reference, but because the author compares Kino and his family to animals so often, it is ironic how they is being followed by trackers.
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.
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
They both rely on someone else for help. George orders Lennie to "Hide in the brush .... come for you."(of mice and men.30) Lennie is like a baby, he needs to be taken care of, in even the most basic ways. Coyotito is managed by Kino and Juana. When Coyotitio got stung by a scorpion, he wails out in pain. Juana tells Kino, "Go get the doctor."(the pearl.7) Coyotito can't take care of himself, he relies on his parents for assistance. Lennie is like Coyotito in the way, that they rely on others. After Lennie met George at the bush, George "pulled the trigger."(of mice and men.106) George killed Lennie because, he no longer wanted, to get in trouble. Kino heard a "hysterical cry from the little cave ... the cry of [Coyotito's] death"(the pearl.87) Kino was anguished when he lost his son. He lost his real hope, his son. The pearl was what lead, to the death of his beloved son. The pearl represented his greed, his desire, his dark side. When he thought he could beat fate, fate triumphed and made him experience agony. Greed led to the demise of both
The novel The Pearl is set in the coast of Mexico in an unspecified time, although likely in pre-modern times. Kino, a pearl diver, and Juana, a housewife, have a son named Coyotito. They live in a village of brush houses with people of the same social status. The upper class live further into the town. Although impoverished, Kino’s family lived simple yet happy lives. The peace in their life is disturbed when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. Kino hesitates, for the doctor’s race had treated his people cruelly for the past 400 years. They are refused because the family doesn’t have anything to pay for the treatment. They go search for a pearls, in hopes of using it to hire the doctor. Things take a turn for the better when Kino finds a pearl described as "as big a seagull's egg", “perfect as the moon” and "the greatest pearl on earth".
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.
A major theme displayed in Steinbeck’s novel is the difference between the standard of living for Mexicans and that for Europeans. The Mexican people of La Paz are very poor, most of them living in brush houses that contained only one room (Ariki). In Kino’s hut, the single room is used as the kitchen, the bedroom, and Coyotito’s nursery (Johnson 181). Their poverty is further displayed by the dirt floor covered with ants and other insects (Johnson). “He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside to watch the dawn” describes his morning routine (Steinbeck 3). Kino’s daily breakfast consisted of corncakes and pulque, which is an alcoholic drink (Johnson 182). Since the Mexicans can’t afford utensils, they have to use their hands to eat their food. This is ironic because the Mexicans were the ones who worked the hardest for their living (Johnson 181). Around midday, Kino and the others would go to the sea in their canoes and dive for pearls. Since this was their family’s only source of income, t...
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.
When Kino finds the pearl he is shocked. " It was as large as a seagull's egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world" (Steinbeck 19).Kino and Juana revel in the excitement thatsurrounds Kino's finding the pearl, but their happiness soon turns to distrust. The pearl buyers, whoKino has to sell the pearls to in order to make a profit, try to cheat him. They tell him that the