Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on the novel "the pearl
Importance of setting in literature
Importance of setting in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays on the novel "the pearl
The Pearl
The Pearl starts off with a poor family that runs into a problem. The problem is that their son Coyotito got bit by a posinous snake and they need money so that the doctor will treat him. Kino, the father, went out to find a pearl so that they would have enough money to get Coyotito to the doctor. The pivoting point in the story is when Kino finds the pearl of all pearls , the pearl he finds is huge. The whole town finds out about Kino's findings, he starts to since an evil feeling comeing from people and the pearl. When it comes to seling the pearl Kino can't sell it in his town because all the pearl buyers are working for the same person so they try to cheat Kino, but he doesn't sell the pearl. He then tries to go to the city to sell the pearl but before he can go he is attacked by someone trying to steal the pearl from Kino, Kino had to defend his self by stabbing and killing the attacker. So he has to flee the town because there are trackers comeing after him, his wife, Juana insists on going with him so they flee up to a mountain to get away from the trackers.
There were three trackers , two on foot, one on horse with a rifle. Kino decided to attack them while they were sleeping, so when he attacked them Kino first tried to get the man on horse, in the struggle Kino killed the trackers but his son was killed by a bullet. Kino then threw the pearl away.
Kino is a determined man , and he does what he thinks is right, like on selling the pearl to the towns pearl buyers. He has a small mustache and short black hair. Juana, kino's wife has long black hair and smart.
A conflict in the story is when Kino had a choice between selling the pearl to the pearl dealers in his town or to sell it some place else. Alothough the towns people thought Kino should have sold the pearl to the dealer for the little amount he offered Kino, but Kino did what he thought was right and did
cure, so the doctor cured Coyotito. The next day, when Kino went to town to sell his
“You had become so wrapped up in the pearl’s worth, that you were willing to hurt me, your own wife, in order to protect it! Greed surely played a role in this, as no right-minded man would ever assault his wife for the fun of it.” Kino spoke softly, unable to meet my gaze, “I am a man. I must never show weakness.” I didn’t believe Kino’s excuses, and I am pretty sure he didn’t either.
For all of these reasons, Kino is a fool. The death of his son, the destruction of his house and canoe, and the loss of his pearl is all his fault. He easily could have avoided all 3 of those things by never even taking that pearl and just throwing back into the ocean when he knew and could sense that it was evil. If I was in Kino’s place I would have sold the pearl as soon as I could to have to the highest bidder just to get rid of it and to make some money since the pearl was evil. THat way my family would still be alive and my canoe and house would still be
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
Peace Pilgrim once stated, “Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them. There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but no too much who are the happiest”. In today’s society, there are individuals who consider themselves materialists, prideful, rich and others not that wealthy. However, material possessions are one of the most unnecessary items that Americans people have, which sometimes could be a critical aspect that defines their identity. In fact, many people who experience such dilemma, have particularly rented self-storage room, which helps them to accumulate and save all their valuable possessions. In the article “The Self-Storage,” by Jon Moallem,
and he will protect it at any cost. As the story goes on Keno begins to change. He starts to
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
When the doctor gets word that Kino has found the pearl he quickly rushes to their house to care for Coyotito after first turning them away. The doctor decides to help Coyotito because he realizes they now can afford to pay him which makes him start to recall the luxurious life he once lived while in Paris. This shows that the doctor does not care about helping Coyotito; he is merely interested in getting paid so he can live like he once did. The doctor is a good examp...
Kino, Juana and their infant son Coyotito live in a modest brush house by the sea. One morning, calamity visits their home when Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion. With hopes of protecting their son, Kino and Juana rush him to the doctor's clinic in town. However, when they arrive at the gate, they are turned away because they are poor natives and not paying customers. Later that same morning, Kino and Juana take their family canoe out to the estuary to go diving for pearls. Juana makes a poultice for Coyotito's wound while Kino canvases the sea bottom. Juana's prayers for a large pearl are answered when Kino surfaces with the largest pearl either of them has ever seen. Kino lets out a triumphant yell at his good fortune, prompting the surrounding boats to circle in and examine the treasure. In the afternoon, the whole neighborhood gathers at Kino's brush house to celebrate his find. Kino names a list of things that he will secure for his family with his newfound wealth, including a church wedding and an education for his son. The neighbors marvel at Kino's boldness, wondering if he is wise or foolish to hold such ambitions. Toward evening, the local priest visits Kino, to bless him on his new fortune, and to remind him of his place within the church. Shortly after, the doctor arrives, explaining that he was out in the morning but has come now to cure Coyotito. He administers a powdered capsule and promises to return in an hour. In this period, Coyotito grows violently ill and Kino decides to bury the pearl under the floor in a corner of the brush house. After the doctor returns, he feeds Coyotito a potion to quiet the baby's spasms. When the doctor inquires about payment, Kino explains the story of the pearl to him. This intrigue...
following day, he tries to sell the pearl to buyers in town, but he is
On page 89 it states, "He looked into its surface and it was gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peered from it into his eyes, and he saw the light of burning. And in the surface of the pearl he saw the frantic eyes of the man in the pool. In the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth." In the end, Kino had finally realized that the pearl was nothing but a waste. Nothing good has come out of his journey to the rich life. He just suffered. The pearl held nothing but horrible memories. Now the pearl meant evil and
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)
For example, the doctor wants to get rich by the pearl, so he i svery greedy for and obsessed with it. He only treats Coyotito when Kino has the pearl to pay for the treatment, and he poisons Coyotito to gain more money as well. After this, Kino is pressured to get the money from the pearl to pay him for the treatment on time. “Tomorrow I will sell it”, Kino promises, “and then I will pay you.” (35) This builds up a lot of pressure for him to reach the capital and causes Kino to fail reaching the capital. During his journey, Kino envisions all of the terrible things the pearl does to him and his family, and he tells himself he will break the promise made to the doctor. These negative thoughts influence Kino to not reach the capital, and not to sell the pearl, and therefore not to find money to pay him back. Therefore, the doctor does not receive as much pay. the same goes for the other townspeople. The townspeople lay a lot of pressure on Kino and, therefore, lead to his and their
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