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Foreshadowing Examples In The Pearl

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Foreshadowing is one of the many key literary factors that Steinbeck uses in the Pearl. The Pearl's use of foreshadowing helped to advance the plot as the novel went on, and allowed for Steinbeck to create suspense, worry, and keep the reader glued to the pages. As the introduction of the novel begins, the young Coyotito was stung by a poisonous scorpion that would ultimately lead to the death of the small child. This could be compared to foreshadowing how the Pearl that Kino finds will "sting" Kino and those around him. The Songs in themselves also help to predict the future of the novel, and also help to bring a sense of sound. These sounds create a foreshadowing, that if not careful analyzed, could pass right over the readers head. …show more content…

After his morning rituals and breakfast, Kino's wife Juana takes their son and places him in a basket to relax and sleep. Then, Kino and Juana both notice a scorpion lowering itself toward the young infant. After a failed attempt to deflect the falling arachnid, the scorpion stings the young child and is immediately crushed by the father. After Juana sucks as much of the poison out as she can, they send off to the doctor. This would be the whole journey of the story, as Kino tries to save Coyotito by acquiring a pearl worth enough to pay for the doctor to see him. Although, finding the "Pearl of the World" would create way more problems than solutions. The sting that destroyed the boy would be the sting that destroyed the tribe. This use of foreshadowing by Steinbeck would never be caught during the reader’s first glance at the novel, because it is such a simple dilemma. However, once the reader completes the novel and realizes that the Pearl destroys the entire tribal grounds one can see how this could have been seen beforehand. Once Coyotito was stung it could be said that the tribe was stung as well, and were awaiting their pending doom while Kino searched and searched for the Pearl. The pearl causes greed between Kino and the city that would never fix the initial problem. The pearl would lead to Coyotito's demise, and also the tribes. The sting was also always accompanied by the Song of

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