The Pearl

940 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The literary theme of loss

The Pearl Is Not What It Seems One day the poor fisherman, Kino, found “ the greatest pearl in the world”, that was perfect as the moon (Steinbeck 10). Consequently, this results in a big conflict that takes place throughout the entire story. In the novella, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, Kino and Juana’s baby Coyotito, sadly gets stung by a scorpion. Later on, in La Paz, Kino and Juana try to find a doctor to cure Coyotito and get him back to normal to live their natural lifestyle again. Unfortunately, Kino doesn’t have enough money to pay the doctor so Kino goes out to find the pearl that changes his life. Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate the emotions of hope, despair, and defiance of the character Kino.
Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate hope. When Kino cannot get the help he needed, …show more content…

At the same time, Kino’s neighbors are trying to steal his pearl, Kino is growing hatred to people around him. When Juana is trying to help Kino with his cut, he says he’s ok with “his eyes and voice were hard and cold” ( 20 ). Kino has never showed anger towards her as he was caring towards her and the baby. Juana senses the pearl is changing him. Shortly, after Juana sees changes in Kino she starts talking about the pearl. Juana confronts Kino saying “This thing [pearl] is evil, this pearl is like a sin” ( 20 ). In the end, Kino’s mind has been set as he wants to do something about the pearl. He just can’t throw it away. At the same time, Juana still tries to convince him about throwing the pearl away. Juana tries to make Kino change his mind so she says “It will destroy us all” ( 20 ). Sadly, talking about their child did not scare or change his mind at all as he already thinks Coyotito’s future will be better if they keep it and sell it later. As a whole, the pearl changes Kino deeply, he doesn’t listen to his wife and takes control of her with

Show More
Related

  • Juana POV Essay Rough Draft

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Pearl And The Snow Walker

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Greed In The Great Gatsby

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • John Steinbeck Figurative Language Analysis

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Is Man Inherently Good Or Evil In The Pearl Essay

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Her arm was up to throw when he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. He struck her in the face… He heard the rush, got his knife out and lunged at one dark figure and felt his knife go home,”pg 59. In the previous quote, Kino’s wife Juana steals the pearl and tries to throw it into the ocean but is beaten and punished by Kino. Soon after this two mysterious figures try to steal the pearl from Kino and he violently stabs one of them. The only reason that this happens is because humans love attention, and if somebody has something that you do not have you want it. Juana wishes that Kino would quit worrying about the pearl so much, and focus more on his family. This pushes her to try to steal the pearl and return it back to its rightful home. Whereas, the unknown figures are jealous of Kino’s pearl and they wish that they had it for themselves, this is why they try murdering Kino, and stealing the pearl. This is not the only instinct shown through this quote though, humans are very protective of there stuff and often times violence can ensue if people try stealing what is rightfully yours. Kino is very protective of his pearl and when everybody tries taking it from him he becomes violent and chaos comes soon after. Being protective is why you have to teach babies how to share, and why many wars break out.

    Read More

  • The Pearl John Steinbeck Analysis

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first, the pearl symbolized aa amazing providence. With the discovery of the great pearl, Kino began to have hope for Coyotito’s future and thought of the different possibilities that lead before him. However, as the town found out about ‘“the Pearl of the World”’(Steinbeck, 1947, p. 23), it began to have an injurious effect into Kino’s simplistic life (SparkNotes Editors, 2002). Juana and Kino’s brother began to seek the pearl as a threat rather than a blessing as the pearl began to symbolize and associate more materialistic desires. With Kino’s desire to acquire wealth from the pearl, he altered from a happy and content father into a savage criminal. By Kino’s demonstration of the destruction of innocence from greed and desire, the pearl soon became a symbol of human destruction. Kino’s gluttony shortly leads him to violently mistreat his wife and also to the death of his only son, Coyotito (SparkNotes Editors, 2002). SparkNotes Editors (2002) believed that his greed ultimately isolated Kino from his cultural customs and society. Overall, according to Wheeler (2008), the parable’s moral lesson was that “money cannot buy

    Read More

  • The Pearle

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. Evil was exhibited by the doctor who refused to treat Coyotito because his parents had no money. When the doctor heard of Kino and Juana's fortune in finding "the pearl of the world" (722), he boasted that they were patients of his while thinking of a better life for himself in Paris. Coyotito was healed when the doctor finally came to their straw hut. He deceived Kino by giving the baby a white powder that made him go into convulsions. An hour later he came and gave Coyotito the remedy and immediately wanted to know when he was getting paid. The evil in the pearl had reached the heart of the doctor. The pearl's evil did not restrict itself to infecting Kino's peers; it also affected Kino himself. He wanted to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's standard of living. He had dreams and goals that all depended on the pearl.

    Read More

  • Comparing Steinbeck's Loss Of Innocence And Coming Of Age

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Literary Criticism Of The Pearl

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Pearl, by John Steinbeck

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of a pearl diver named Kino. Kino lives a simple life, and adores his family. At the beginning of the story Steinbeck shows how content Kino’s family is. Everything seems to be going perfect for Kino and his family that is until the discovery of the most wonderful pearl in the world changes his life forever. As the story advances Kino’s newborn, Coyotito gets bitten by a scorpion. Kino’s wife, Juana insists that they take Coyotito to the town’s doctor. Inevitably the doctor refuses to help Coyotito because Kino is unable to make a payment.

    Read More

  • The Action of The Pearl

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • How Does Tragedy Affect Kino's Life

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Pearl Greed

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of Steinbeck’s novel, the pearl represents a wondrous, legendary object, “this was the Song of the Pearl that Might Be, for every shell thrown in the basket might contain a pearl. Chance was against it, but luck and the gods might be for it. And in the canoe above him Kino knew that Juana was making the magic of prayer, her face set rigid and her muscle hard to force the luck, to tear the luck out of the gods’ hands, for she needed the luck for the swollen shoulder of Coyotito,” (17). By the middle of the book, the pearl is no longer just a way to pay for treatment, by also a way to improve Kino and his family’s lives, “In the pearl he saw Juana and Coyotito and himself standing and kneeling at the high altar, and they were being married now that they could pay… He himself was dressed in new white clothes, and he carried a new hat - not of straw but of fine black felt…

    Read More

  • Themes In The Pearl By John Steinbeck

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Pearl : Appearances Can Be Deceiving

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about The Pearl

Open Document