The mother, wife, and strong soul that is Juana in The Pearl by John Steinbeck, draws us in with her unique personality. Juana lives in a brush house by the sea, with her husband, Kino, and infant son, Coyotito, poor but content. Juana is wise, motherly, and silently strong because of her love for her family.
There are many examples of Juana’s wise mind. Juana tries to tell Kino she has noticed its evil after the baby gets sick and the shadowy figure tries to steal the pearl and attacks Kino. When Juana says “[The pearl] will destroy us! Let us crush it between stones.” (38) is one example. This shows that she senses that the pearl is bad luck. It makes sense that Juana is the smartest character, because she senses the evil and realizes it first. She starts to realise the pearl’s power early on, and tries to talk to Kino about this, but he wants to believe in his dream and shuts her down. A second example is shown when Juana and Kino are being chased by the trackers and Kino becomes despaired. He, Kino,
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thinks giving himself up will be best. Juana is wiser and brings him to his senses by saying “Come!! Do you think they would let us live?” (75). This example shows just how much Juana sees and pays attention to. If she had had the same thoughts, they would have all been killed. Juana keeps her head on and saves her family, proving her sharp senses. Juana shows her motherly side many times when she is caring for her baby and her husband. In the beginning, Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, and Juana is the first to reach her baby. “But she had the baby now, and sucked hard on the swelling puncture” (6). This action shows Juana’s instincts make the most difference in the plot of the story, because it is her motherly nature that saves the baby. When Juana and Kino are being chased by the trackers, her exclamations about the baby bring Kino to his senses enough to keep moving and hiding. Coyotito meant everything to Kino and Juana, especially Juana. “This was Juana’s first baby- this was nearly all there was in Juana’s world” (7). She tries to keep the family moving and protected because she cares about them so much, proven by all the sacrifices she makes, such as leaving everything she knew behind and trusting her husband completely. Everything she does is for Coyotito, and to be the best mother she can be. Something Juana shows quite a bit as well is that she is silently strong.
One example that shows this is when she is trying to warn Kino of the pearls’ evil that she has noticed, and he tells her “Hush- do not speak anymore” (39). This explains that Juana is being silenced, but is strong in her opinion. She is very smart to stay silent, in my opinion, because she knows that that is the only possible way to try to keep some of the old peace. Juana puts her own opinions away for her family. After the pearl-buyers offer Kino so low a price for the pearl and Kino states he will go to the Capital, she knows that the best way “she could help him was by being silent and being near” (55). This makes a very sweet and caring connection and support on Juana’s side, because she knows just how to help her husband. Juana knowing just what to do shows how being silent can help someone who is stressed. This is one of Juana’s stronger noticeable trait, though she has
many. Due to many examples we have noticed, we can conclude that Juana is a very selfless, caring and protective person. If she had not been there for her family, Kino would have destroyed his life completely. He would have given himself up to the trackers. If Juana had not been there, everything would have been different, and most likely turned out very badly. Juana matters because she is the voice of reason that saves her family from total destruction.
The novel The Pearl by John Steinbeck is about a young poor man with a family who has found a great source of wealth. The novel was written in third person, or a narrator unknown to the reader. The main characters in my novel was Kino, a young native and farther, Juana, Kino’s girlfriend and mother, and Coyotito, Kino and Juana's young infant son. John Steinbeck's novel starts off with a very dramatic first scene when Kino and Juana’s infant, Coyotito, gets stung by a scorpion. They rush their child to the doctor in town, but they were quickly denied help. The doctor refused to give them his services because they didn’t have a enough money to pay the him properly. That very same day they went out on the sea to go diving for pearls. While Kino was diving Juanna was creating a poultice for Coyotito wound. This made the wound heal a little but definitely not all the way. Kino came up from his di...
Like Yin and Yang, Pearl generates all things around her and is a necessity to this story. Without Pearl, there would be no story. Pearl teaches everyone in the novel and the readers that someone or something can be what brings two people together, good outcomes can arise from irresponsible choices, and finally that in our own way we all symbolize something greater than we consider ourselves to
Juana’s mother, Isabel Ramirez, had an independent nature about herself. Like Juana would later do, Ramirez refused to marry (Trueblood 2-3). At the age of ten, Ramirez noticed that Juana had a large capacity for knowledge, so she sent Juana to study in Mexico City (Trueblood 3). After studying alone, Juana desired to further seek a life of independence and freedom from authority. To avoid marriage, Juana entered the Dicalced Carmalelite Convent in 1667 (Trueblood 5)....
Tom Joad is an ex-convict that was only into his own self-interest and lived by a mantra of live your life day by day and not concerned with the future, to becoming a man who thinks about the future and someone with morals and an obligation to help others. Ma Joad is a typical woman of the early 1900’s whose main role was a mother only with a role of caring and nurturing. Later in the novel, she becomes an important figure for the family and is responsible for making decisions in keeping the family together and emphasizes the importance of unity. Another important transition in the book is the family starting off as a single close knit unit to depending on other families to survive. This common interest and struggle bonded the community of individual families to a single one. Steinbeck wrote this novel very well, by having great character dynamics and development that displays the characters strengths and also their
...e story unfolds in a very neutral and unbiased manner. We see things happen and get to make our choice as to who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist. I have no doubt in my mind that Lorca very well knew what he wanted the reader to think, but he didn't force anything down our throats. We hate Bernarda for what we saw her do, and how others acted around her. She truly was a woman that throughout the play failed to show one redeaming quality. It can be argued that she did what she did out of love for her family and respect for her husband, but I don;t buy it. She did what she did out of fear. She was afraid of what the public would say. She gave off the aura of a big powerful woman, but in reality she was small and weak. She demanded that her family mourn for eight years not because she felt that was proper or because she couldn't face the world without her husband, but because she felt that it would give her family the best reputation. She did this in spite of all of her children's happiness. Those are the reasons we hated Bernarda, we didn't need to be told, we saw it with our own eyes. That is the sign of a good playwright; the ability to show without telling.
this is when Juana, the wife, tries to rid them of the pearl because she
outcome of Juana's loyalty to Kino. Her loyalty caused her to lose all that was
...om the other character as she behaved badly with her family including her mother, who kicked her out because she thought that she had gone to the devil. She feels depressed that she leaves home peacefully and finds Pete to go out with him to the theater. On the other hand, Juana displays bravery that she warns Kino that the pearl turns evil. So as she trying to throw it away, Kino fights Juana because he thinks it worth a lot of money. Unlike Maggie, who took on her situation quietly, Juana takes action to attempt to save the world. Both characters face problems in their lives. However, Maggie reacts quietly while Juana speaks up which truly embodies the quotation that people react differently to the world. Between these two characters, I like Juana’s behavior better because she’s trying to save the world. As a result, Maggie’s wickedness behavior can upset people.
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.
...final note, Pearl was more than her mother's only treasure or sometimes headache; she was her mother's only source of survival.
A fascinating and intriguing novel, The Pearl shares the story of a man named Kino, and how greed can affect his life forever. When Kino finds the “Pearl of the World”, it affects everyone, not just him. John Steinbeck, the author of this novel, uses intricate literary devices in order to give the reader the sense of greed that engulfed Kino and his surroundings. Literary devices such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization all help this story come to life. Kino’s family, his personality, and his town, all changed when one pearl landed in Kino’s hands.
“Greed, like the love of comfort, is a kind of fear.” John Steinbeck’s parable The Pearl illustrates this topic. Even the kindest of people can be driven to greed under the right circumstances. As unassuming of a flaw it seems to be, greed holds an invisible, yet strong hold on nearly every individual. Kino, a Mexican - Indian pearl diver, lives a content life with his wife, Juana, and his infant son, Coyotito. When his son is stung by a scorpion, there seems to be no hope for his treatment, due to the town doctor’s greed and sense of superiority. However, seemingly by chance, Kino manages to retrieve a massive pearl from the depths of the sea. Driven with a sense of hope for his son, Kino must protect his pearl from everything. John Steinbeck’s parable The Pearl illustrates how greed brings out the worst in people.
Kino's relationship with Juana starts off as happy because they find the pearl, but as the story progresses the pearl brings Kino only darkness. Kino and Juana's relationship dynamic changes throughout the story.
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
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.