Analysis Of John Steinbeck 's ' The Pearl '

“The Pearl” by John Steinbeck, truly has a great example to the life lesson on greed. A family destroyed and a culture distressed is what one can see in the short story, “The Pearl.” Greed plays an important role in the lesson of “The Pearl,” in which John Steinbeck uses imagery and foreshadowing to highlight this theme and he utilizes personification and similes/metaphors to explain the theme easily.

When Kino first finds the pearl, he becomes a different person, and that shows us how ambition can change people. He becomes greedy, and then starts to treat his wife differently. Kino also became very ambitious for the worth of the pearl. When the dealers see the pearl and say it isn’t worth much, Kino ceases to view the pearl with optimistic delight and instead focuses on its sale with determined ambition. From this point on, that ambition continues to hurt him, to the point where his son, Coyotito, dies.

Kino in The Pearl creates the theme of greed and power can make one’s downfall. In the book Juana (Kino’s wife) hears evil music with the pearl and fears it will tear apart the family and the village. So she sneaks out in the early morning with it and tries to get rid of it to free her family from evil but gets caught in the action by her husband who goes savage. “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 with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared. He hissed at her like a snake…”(page 58-59) This shows how greed and power can make one’s downfall because the greed of the pearl and the idea of what riches it could bring to the family and the whole village which makes Kino fill with rage when he sees Juana trying to get rid of

Steinbeck shows us how, “He heard the rush, got his knife out and lunged at one dark figure and felt his knife go home, and then he was swept to his knees and swept again to the ground. Greedy fingers went through his clothes, frantic figures searched him, and the pearl, knocked from his hand, lay winking behind a little stone in the pathway”(59). People are becoming jealous of Kino and his pearl, and this is ultimately where the trouble begins. Kino has killed a man, and that is prime example of how greed can in fact lead to uncontrolled

First, Kino’s call to adventure with Coyotito being savagely stung by a scorpion and Kino having to find money for the doctor to pay for Coyotito’s medical treatment, second,Kino’s allies that will be by his side no matter what and lastly the examples of how Kino is truly a tragic hero. In John Steinbeck's novella, The Pearl the text gives many hints and clues that the novel follows the pattern of a Hero's Journey. This essay will cover the 3 main aspects of Kino's Journey which eventually leads to his ultimate sacrifice. My claim is significant and relevant to The Pearl because without the three main aspects to Kino’s Journey, the novel would not be the award winning, captivating book that it

Many people in the world today grow crazy and mad when surrounded by even the slightest bit of wealth and good fortune. Even a strong person who recognizes their priorities can still become corrupt with too much power. There is no better example of a person falling into the path of evil and corruption than in a novel written by John Steinbeck. In the novel The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the author writes about a poor Indian man named Kino who becomes corrupt from the wealth of a magnificent pearl. Steinbeck uses the motifs of music, light and dark imagery, and values to develop the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption. The reader learns that one

Although Kino performed many heroic acts, he also acted foolishly in various circumstances. He lives with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito. The novel tells his story when he happens to find a large pearl in the beach that has the capacity to either bring him death or happiness. After finding this big pearl, he believes that this is going to the beginning of a new chapter for him and his family because poverty was eventually going to leave them. His foolishness was first seen when he announced the pearl that he had found making everyone to try to steal it from him. Knowing the worth of the pearl, he should have kept the information to himself and sold it later. After seeing what people were able to do to him because of the pearl, he should have just sold it at the price the buyers said because it eventually led to the death of his son. The buyers only referred to it as a ‘fool’s gold’ and that it was not worth anything. Kino’s greed put his family in danger and caused the death of his only son. Even after he was convinced that the pearl was evil by his wife, he says, "The pearl has become my soul. If I shall give it up, I

Kino poses the characteristic of self-pride, which eventually brings him and his family down. ". . . I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We will have our chance. His fist pounded the sleeping mat. No one shall take our good fortune from us. . ." Kino has letten the pearl take control over his life, which is indeed tragic because this beautiful and perfect rounded pearl destroys the most valuable thing that kino owns which is his family, however, as kino has let the pearl take over his life, he no longer sees his family as his most valuable posecion, but the pearl.

In the Novel, The Pearl, Kino’s greed leads to his downfall because he does not sell the pearl, he fights for the pearl, and he believes that the pearl can change his family’s life.

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. It is this evil which moves the story along and adds drama. It causes the beginning of a happy spirit, but the downfall of goodness and humanity.

This quote shows the greed in Kino is getting greater and greater. The reader can tell this because Kino is willing to hurt the person who he loves the most, and who loves him the most, just to keep his pearl safe.

He imagined a better life for his family. Despite everything that went wrong, despite people telling him to throw the pearl away, Kino continued to believe in the value and importance of the pearl. Early on Juana tried to convince Kino to get rid of the pearl, “‘This pearl is a sin! It will destroy us,’ and her voice rose shrilly ‘ throw it away.’”(John Steinbeck 38). Kino would have ordinarily taken into consideration his wife’s concerns and this was out of character. While under the spell of the pearl, It didn’t matter to him that Juana had his best interest in mind when she advised him to get rid of the pearl. Even after Kino was attacked, he was unwavering in his conviction in the value of the pearl, “but Kino’s face was set, and his will was set” Kino was given many chances to throw away the pearl, but yet he was stubborn and continued to believe in the pearl even though his world was falling apart and even though he could lose

After fighting battles with himself, Kino began to lose his ability to control himself because he was set on his plan for his family that he once saw in the pearl. “He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders and he kicked her in the side.” (Steinbeck 59). Multiple instances have occured since Kino first got the pearl, including two attacks to steal it during the night, as well as thousands of eyes that have stared through him and looked into his soul full of secrets, making him feel scared throughout the day and night, worried that those eyes would turn into attacks on his pearl, which holds the future for his family. After Juana, Kino’s wife had enough jealous stares and greedy attacks, she took the pearl and boldly planned to throw it into the water, for it to drown with the wealth and the struggles attached to it. But, as Kino was constantly aware of everything occurring with the pearl, he didn't care whether it was his wife or a stranger, because he knew he had to attack and prevent the loss of the pearl, especially since he has such a close connection to it. “The pearl has become my soul. If I give it up, I shall lose my soul.” (Steinbeck 67). Kino cannot live without the pearl and as everyday goes by, his connection with the pearl grows stronger, and his

I created this humument as a response to The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I chose this book because it is a beautiful folk story that spoke to me because it explores good and evil in human nature. In this humument, I wish to convey the insight that Steinbeck wanted to reveal in the novel. The novel revealed to me that we, people in the world, corrupt the things around us.

This book tells a story about two parents and their child’s troubles with their own personal enemy, greed. It starts with Kino, the father, a pearl hunter that lives in a small brush house village near a small sea side town in Mexico. He needs to pay for his son, Coyotito, treatments for a scorpion sting. So after being refused treatments because they cannot provide payment to the doctor they go to the gulf in search of a pearl filled oyster, to pay the doctor. Kino, Juana his wife, and Coyotito get in their families canoe head to the shallows to look for the small shellfish containing the iridescent gems they seek. While filling a basket with the oysters outlining the sea floor Kino catches a peak of a glimmer coming from a large oyster under an outcrop. Once he has placed the large shellfish in the basket, swimming towards his canoe. Once inside the canoe Kino uses a knife to open the meat filled shell of the oysters revealing no pearls in all the small ones. With hope filling both Juana and him, he opens the large oyster to reveal a large pearl, “as large as a seagull’s egg.”( The Pearl page 25) Joy filling both of them he screamed, startling those who were also in the shallows looking for the oysters bearing pearls. The villagers called it “the pearl of the world.” (The Pearl page 27)