John Steinbeck Argument

The novellal, The Pearl, is a story about how Kino’s greed destroys his family, but his wife Juana’s determination holds it together. Shortly after finding it, Juana realized how dangerous the pearl was going to be and tried to get rid of it unsuccessfully. If she had succeeded sh and Kino would have been saved embarrassment and pain. Juana’s support and intelligence keeps the family from complete destruction.

In John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, he conveys that wealth can corrupt and change by displaying how the pearl changes the lives Kino, Juana, and Coyotito, leads to their downfall and how it also affects the town of La Paz.

In this novella, I developed a thesis statement, which is: The pearl kept Kino moving forward because it represented hope during a period in his life. I chose this thesis statement because one of the aspects that makes this story move forward is Kino’s hope and greed; even if this greed is based on his hope. Steinbeck quotes: “Every man suddenly became related to Kino’s pearl, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so he became curiously everyman’s enemy” (Steinbeck, 27).

Greed is perhaps one of the most destructive forces in this world, it breeds anger, hate, jealousy, and more. The novella “The Pearl” is based on how the finding of a pearl causes greed to be awakened in the hearts of people and cause them to commit evil. During the Novella, Steinbeck develops the theme that greed left unchecked can cause immoral behavior and that is show in the doctor, the attackers, and Kino. All of them are forced by greed to commit sins that they otherwise would not do.

	 John Steinbeck was a famous American author who wrote from the 1920 to the 1940. Steinbeck was constantly moving across the country trying to succeed as a writer. John Steinbeck lived a life of constant up and downs, successes and failures before he landed on his feet and became a famous author.

“It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth.” John Steinbeck said this of all humankind. He thought highly of us as a species, just as Dr. Stockmann did in Henrik Ibsen’s play Enemy of the People. Both men had problems in their societies, Stockmann in his town and Steinbeck in America, and both believed that humans were capable of seeing the problem and fixing it. The rest of the population did not see this as the case. They believed he was an enemy of the people and a threat to their way of life. Because of how Steinbeck expressed his views, people felt threatened by what he wrote and they called him a threat to

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.

Throughout the book there are many themes and the one I chose to use was greed. Greed was present in many instances like; the doctor didn't want to help Coyotito because Kino and Juana couldn’t pay him what he wanted. He finally decided to help after he heard that they had found a perfect pearl and he wanted it for himself. The priest wanted it to help repair and make changes for the church. “It came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church”(Steinbeck 34). The pearl buyers also demonstrated greed because they tried telling Kino that it was worth nothing and that it was too big. Kino was a happy and hardworking father until he had found the pearl. The pearl changed him and it turned mean and greedy. When Juana tried throwing it back Kino fought her for the pearl back left her on the beach. Also, the many attackers who tried taking the pearl away from them, which made it to where they were trying to kill Kino, Juana, and Coyotito so they can get the pearl. The biggest symbol that represents greed was the pearl.(Symbolism in the Pearl)

John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, a farming community with of about 2500 people. He was the third of four children and the only son of John Ernst and Olive Hamiton Steinbeck. His sisters Beth and Esther were much older than John and he felt closest to Mary, the youngest. He spent his childhood and adolescence in the Salinas Valley, which he later called “the salad bowl of the nation.” John’s mother, Olive, was the daughter of Irish immigrants. She left her parents’ ranch to become a teacher. John remembered his mother as energetic and full of fun. He called his father, in contrast, “a singularly silent man.” Steinbeck’s father, also named John, worked as the treasurer of Monterey County. He had chosen a

“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.

People populate the same place, same space, and same planet. People do not see the world in the same way. John Steinbeck’s quote from Travels With Charley contextualizes his beliefs that there are two types of people, defined by the ways they travel through life. Maps can be formed, used, and stored in many different ways. Steinbeck expresses to his readers that while maps are important to any traveler, people who take pleasure in being guided through life by maps are different from people who live amongst an ever evolving map that constructs itself behind the steps of true explores and adventures.

John Steinbeck was a very talented person with an open mind. He wanted America to be different than it was and he expresses some life experiences he has through writing books. Steinbeck has a total of twenty-nine books, sixteen of which are novels. One of Steinbeck's biggest contribution to American Literature is his intake of the voice of the dispossessed in his writings.

The Pearl, a book written by John Steinbeck, teaches a lesson about how a person can be swayed by greed. In the story, John Steinbeck uses three literary devices to help the reader understand the story better. Through foreshadowing, John Steinbeck explains how others are swayed by greed. For example, Kino himself, the villagers, and the pearl buyers are mesmerized by the pearl. Lastly, symbolism is used in the story, such as the pearl being evil luck. The author shows how Kino is overcome with greed, using characterization. Through characterization, foreshadowing, and symbolism, John Steinbeck explains how people can be affected by greed.

John Steinbeck's novel The Pearl is full of lessons to be learned, but there is one that is

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