How Does Steinbeck Build Suspense

“And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, gloating and glowing in triumph.” (Steinbeck 20). This is one of many memorable quotes from John Steinbeck’s classic, The Pearl. While this story is composed of only eighty-seven pages, the author packs the book with more meaning and teaching than many authors have been able to in hundreds. Set in a small village in La Paz, Mexico, the tale deals with many topics, themes, and issues.

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.”

Kino thoughts on the pearl changed by the end because he realized how it caused him to be greedy, selfish and not support his family. I believe that steinbeck wasn’t disappointed that Kino was able to achieve his dreams because it was the reality at the time of the Great Depression. This story Steinberg wrote related to the Great Depression because many people were struggling to find food, jobs, and to support their

Throughout Steinbecks parable The Pearl, illustrates how characters change with color and emotion. Throughout The Pearl, Steinbeck shows hot the characters in the beginning and the characters in the end are differentiated from each other. Kino, a simple mexican fisher from La Paz, Mexico, and his wife Juana, Kinos wife and mother of one. They both begin as a happy unmarried couple with one baby boy.

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.

Of all the symbols that are in Steinbeck’s story, the pearl of the world is the most important because of its direct impact on Kino, Juana, and Coyotito. The Pearl is about a poor diver, Kino, who gathers pearls for a living. Then, on a day like any other, Kino comes to the surface of the sea with a pearl as large as a seagull’s egg. Kino thought it would be a source of wealth, hope, and comfort, whereas it was actually the evil that destroyed their family.

The Pearl: Irrational Fears Fear is an emotion that can quickly turn irrational, causing more drastic reactions and the lack of an ability to think before acting. Every person experiences fear throughout their life, but some react more irrationally to it than others. In “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck, one of the themes in the short story is that fear causes people to act irrationally. This is demonstrated by how the main character, Kino, reacts drastically to the mere thought of suffering the loss of his pearl. Throughout the story of “The Pearl”, Kino becomes more and more unreasonable, driven by his deepening fear of losing the pearl.

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.

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.

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

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

     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'.

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.