How Does Steinbeck Build Suspense

In the novel The Pearl the author, John Steinbeck, writes about a man named Kino who finds a “Great Pearl” and how greed consumes him and the people around him with murderous feelings towards the beholder of the pearl. A movie was later adapted from the book in 1947 that exhibited many similar characteristics as the book. However, although the book and the movie are very much a like they are also quite different.

In the novel, The Pearl, the author John Steinbeck uses many similes and metaphors to communicate the theme of how liking something leads to the need to protect it through a strong will and instincts. When Kino seems to be obsessed with the pearl, in the middle of the night she attempts to protect him from it by throwing it away, “And like a shadow she glided toward the door.” (58) This quote uses a simile to emphasize how Juana truly values Kino, so she is trying to protect him by getting rid of the pearl, and she is sneaking out as stealthily as a shadow to try to help Kino. Later, Kino returns the favor when he protects Juana and Coyotito: “He was an animal now, for hiding, for attacking, and he lived only to preserve himself and his family.”

I liked the way Steinbeck described the pearl because that allows the readers to clearly understand that this is not a normal pearl, but maybe a ghostly one. For example, Steinbeck quotes: “And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant.” (Steinbeck, 24). This example is related to my thesis statement because this situation occurs when Kino first saw the pearl, and the pearl brought him hope and surprise to his life during that period of time.

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

Steinbeck begins the novella by introducing the type of life that was lived by Kino before the discovery of the pearl, and the effect it had not only himself but its effect it had on his family. As Kino watches the ocean he remembers an ancient song from his culture the “Song of the Family” as he remembers this song he takes pleasure in watching his wife do her chores. Kino remembers this moment has a perfect morning like any other mornings. As Kino eats his breakfast he is aware of a scorpion that arrives at Coyotito crib. As the scorpion bit Kino’s son he remembers another ancient song the “Song of Evil”. Steinbeck presents the divides the town in two types - the old natives and the new Christian settlers. Steinbeck uses techniques to distinguish between the native Indians and the more cultured Europeans.

Kino is beginning to realize how at first the pearl seemed to have brought fortune and good to his family, but it really had only brought evil to the family. By the end of the story, Kino and Juana have lost their son, Coyotito, and they wish things were back to the way they were before they found the pearl. Kino then throws the pearl back out into the ocean where he had found it: “And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared” (90). The music disappearing as the pearl sink back into the ocean symbolizes the evil leaving the family: now that the pearl has left, so has the evil. Kino now understands that their “wealth” has brought nothing but evil and has destroyed both himself as well as his family. Not only does Steinbeck use the motif of music to express the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption, but he also uses the motif of light and dark imagery.

The Pearl written by John Steinbeck is a parable, a story that teaches a moral lesson. This novel is centered on a poor Indian family, who live in a brush hut along the Gulf of Mexico and by the village of La Paz. The family consists of: Kino, a fisherman and pearl diver, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito. One day while diving, Kino discovers a great pearl that he calls, “the pearl of the world” (22). The theme of a literary work is defined as the central idea, concern or purpose about life that a writer wishes to convey. There may be several themes identified in a literary work; however, in John Steinbeck’s novel The Pearl the author uses the pearl to develop one of the most essential universal themes in literature, that of

     John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is a Novella, which is longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. The story is about a poor mexican family and the father Kino, whose occupation is diving for pearls off the Baja peninsula. After retrieving the pearl the family becomes wealthy and content and soon after the father turns into a criminal. This shows how greed and aspiration can demolish innocence. Steinbeck's motive for creating the book was to show the reader that the cause of all this stress and chaos is because of poverty. As illustrated in The Pearl, people call for desperate measures when poverty

During one morning in Steinbeck’s novella, Kino and Juana hop in their canoe to look for pearls. Once Kino thinks he has found one, light imagery shines through Kino’s mind, when he believes that, “In this Gulf of uncertain light there were more illusions than realities” (19). When superstition and tension surface quickly like this, it means that the author is attempting to foreshadow something. Soon after the mention of the illusion, Kino’s family finds the pearl. Another example of foreshadowing using light imagery is how Steinbeck pictures Juana after she realizes that the pearl is evil, “And in the firelight her lips and her eyes were alive with her fear” (38). At the time, the pearl has just been nearly stolen once, but Juana already becomes critical about the pearl’s presence. Kino’s steadfast refusal to return to his old, peaceful life foreshadows an unfortunate change in Kino’s personality through light imagery. Similarly, the same light returns when the pearl is stolen again, when Steinbeck writes, “And as she spoke the light came back in Kino's eyes so that they glowed fiercely and his muscles hardened and his will hardened” (56). So, Steinbeck’s light imagery foreshadows

In life, when someone goes through a moment of suspense, we may feel eager, excited, or nervous because suspense builds those feelings in us. In “Tell Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator is going through a feeling of mockery because of an old man’s eye. The narrator visits the old man’s room every night for seven nights to plan his murder. The man is showing and feeling lots of suspense. He feels eager and excited about finally ending a man’s life for his happiness of not seeing his vulture eye. But the suspense, in the end, is kicking into the guilt that the narrator has. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe uses description, inner thinking, and tone to build suspense.

I’m going to tell you how Steinbeck rhetorically uses figurative language in his novella The Pearl.. Steinbeck is using figurative language to explain how Kino lose his humanity. For example, After kino finds out he has a whole in his canoe and house burns down Steinbeck states, “He was an animal now….”(62). The quote is showing the connotations of wild and uncontrollable to describe kino. The pearl is changing kino into a violent person just because it's not changing his life it's changing his humanity. In addition, After Kino struck Juana in the face the Steinbeck says, “He hissed at her like a snake….”(59).

Steinbeck describes the setting to the reader through the description of Kino using imagery and personification. The figurative language gives the story a mysterious tone. As “the moon crept through the holes” Kino soon relies that Juana is trying to discard the pearl. The tone is created by the personified phrase to allow the reader to feel Kino

The boat is a symbol for family, and now that the boat has been destroyed, the family is now being destroyed. Steinbeck used darkness for the villagers that burnt down Kino’s home. The determination that Kino has to keep the pearl is starting to become destruction. With everything that had happened to Kino and his family. Kino is ready to start a new life with his family. If the pearl could be sold, the money that they get from the pearl will help Coyotito go to school and have a good life. As Kino is starting his new life by escaping he hears the music of the pearl in his head. Steinbeck presents Kino as an animal because as the novel progress, Steinbeck presents Kino as a wild animal that is being hunted by the villagers.

The Pearl written by John Steinbeck is a parable, a story that teaches a moral lesson. The focus of this novel is on a poor Indian family. The family consists of three members: Kino, a husband, father, and fisherman, Juana, his wife and loving mother; and Coyotito their infant son. This indigent family lives in a small brush hut along the Gulf of Mexico by the town of La Paz. One day Coyotito, is bitten by a scorpion; a scorpion sting can be deadly to a baby. Kino and Juana are very worried over the health of their baby; therefore, they hope to find a pearl worthy enough for the doctor’s payment to the doctor to treat Coyotito. With luck on their side, Kino finds a pearl the size of a seagull’s egg; he calls it “The Pearl of the

     Novels were created to show a very naive view in great depth. The Pearl is a novel in its most complete form. Steinbeck does this by conveying life symbolically. Through symbols, John offers the reader a clearer look at life and it?s content. He shows major imagery in four ways: Kino, music, Coyotito, and the 'Pearl of the World'.