Kino's Corruption

“Kino could see Juana in a shawl, stiff with newness and a new skirt, he could see himself dressed in new white clothes with a new hat, holding a new harpoon better than the one he had previously broken. He could see Coyotito, he wore a blue sailor suit from the United States and a little yachting cap, these are all things he wanted, that he could now have.” Kino states everything he wants and can now get in life which makes him more arrogant, leading him on a path of destruction. This also gives Kino something to look back on after it's too late. “In the moonlight he could see the frantic, frightened eyes, and Kino aimed and fired between the eyes. Suddenly he heard the keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry from the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death. He hastily scaled the mountain and entered the cave to bear the sight of a small limp heavy bundle. The shawl was dried with blood, and the bundle swayed a little swayed a little as it was held.” Kino has sacrificed the one thing he cares most in the world about for a simple pearl which again proves the point that Kino is truly a tragic hero. Kino believes that if he can come out safely with both his family and the pearl intact that he can live happily ever after, but with the pearl comes evil and death. Later in the novel when Kino is forced to choose between his family and

At the beginning of the story they both felt content and happy as show in this quote “Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.”. They did not even speak because their understanding was so great. But after Kino found the pearl his relationship steadily deteriorates as shown in this quote “"Kino," she said huskily, "I am afraid. A man can be killed. Let us throw the pearl back into the sea." "Hush," he said fiercely. "I am a man. Hush.”. That shows that as time goes by Kino is acting ruder and harshly to Juana all because of the greed the pearl caused. Another example is "This thing is evil," she cried harshly. "This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us," and her voice rose shrilly. "Throw it away, Kino. Let us break it between stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It has brought evil. Kino, my husband, it will destroy us." And in the firelight her lips and her eyes were alive with her fear. But Kino's face was set, and his mind and his will were set” this quote shows that Juana is becoming increasingly fearful yet Kino is sure this is the way and is willing to do whatever is necessary to become wealthy. This causes a strain between their relation. Finally the worst thing Kino commits is the act of attacked Juana. He is described as a snake hissing at her and hitting her that makes her fall. He even continues to kick her after she has fallen and she accepts it and knows he may even murder her. This shows that Kino has broken all limits of humanity and is being consumed by

In The Pearl Kino is a father and husband who is trying to work and give the best for his wife Juana and son Coyotito. Kino is a pearl diver and hopes one day he will be lucky enough to find a pearl. Luck for Kino when he is out one day he finds something special. Steinbeck states “Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon… It was

After traveling long and fighting against the whole world, first with his town filled with people trying to steal it, then fighting for the money, then against himself and finally against the trackers, he was left weak, and there was no more strength to fight anymore. “The people say that the two seemed to be removed from human experience” (Steinbeck 88). His struggles with the pearl have left him dehumanized and stripped of emotions because after so many battles with himself and others, it has ruined the pearl’s value by taking away the shine and leaving a dusty grey as all of his original plans of a wedding, new clothes and an education for Coyotito have turned into memories of traumatic moments. “And in the surface of the pearl, he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away.” (Steinbeck 89). Family was the strongest part of his life because it was Kino’s only power throughout his life, which is why when he returns back to his village, people don’t recognize him as he walks through people unbothered by their staring eyes that glare right through the hollowed soul, making them feel scared. Whether Kino can’t feel anymore or chooses to disconnect himself from that battle is a mystery, but, he is still left as a dehumanized

In the beginning of the novel, Kino and his family’s religion and culture revolved mainly around songs; such as the Song of the Family and the Song of the Evil. However, after Kino discovered the pearl, he began to ignore the songs, and ignore his culture. Kino’s brother, Juan Tomas, and Juana both suggest him to get rid of the pearl. Making the pearl his main priority instead of his family, Kino ignored their suggestions. If he had listened, no harm would have occurred, and he and his family would still be alive and well. Because of Kino’s obliviousness, he ended up bringing bad luck to his family, rather than the good that he fantasized about. After Kino rejected the offer of one thousand pesos, he declared that he would travel to the Capital and sell the pearl there. However, he did not plan out where he was going to sell it, nor know the exact value of the “Pearl of the World”. This led to his encounter with “the Dark Ones”. The “Dark Ones” burned his house and destroyed his prized heirloom, the canoe. This forced Kino, Juana and Coyotito to flee to the mountains, which ultimately led to Coyotito’s unfortunate

In The Pearl, Kino’s pearl can be seen to represent dreams and the consequences of those dreams. When Kino discovers a large and expensive Pearl, he begins to imagine all of the things he can now afford, and becomes obsessed with obtaining his dreams as shown in The Pearl, “‘This Pearl has become my soul,” said Kino, “If I give it up I shall lose my soul’” (67 Steinbeck) Kino’s hope to become rich, and have a better life took him over, and he could no longer settle for what he previously loved. When people have the opportunity to pursue their dreams, they forget that they were once satisfied in their previous life because they have the opportunity to improve it. Near the end of the book, as Kino had fled from his reality in an attempt to sell his Pearl, “He looked into his Pearl to find his vision… but he saw only a huddled dark body on the ground with shining blood dripping from its throat.” (71 Steinbeck) The pearl provided Kino with the opportunity to pursue his dreams, and because he was unable to throw away the Pearl and settle, he lost his house, his canoe, and his baby son. His hopeless pursuit of his dreams caused him to scorn his once happy life, and return to his home in misery.

    The pearl plays a big part in the story. It brings down the family, changes Kinos way of thinking, and his priorities. When Kino first find the pearl it brings him hope which is shown through the quote “In the surface of the great pearl he could see dream forms.” (Steinbeck 19) this shows how his hope that things will get better for his family. The hope that he has is also shown when he is talking to everyone. He starts to talk about his dreams and there are four of them “We will be married- in the church. He spoke softly.” (24) This is the first of his hopes. The second

There were many lessons to be learned in the novel. One main theme of the book is greed. Greed is shown in Kino throughout the book

They were still loyal to him, even though he was becoming another person. Since Both Juana (Kino’s wife) and Juan (his brother) just supported his actions it allowed Kino to just continue his demands with the pearl. It allowed him to be more and more greedy and they just accepted the person he was becoming. Kino wasn't aware of all the actions he was making, just because his family supported him. Like I said, in the book Kino killed someone who was trying to steal the pearl. The first person he came was his brother, Juan. Juan was being a loyal brother and didn’t turn him in even though what Kino did was wrong. In my opinion, I didn’t think that was a right choice to make. Even though Kino was family to Juan, what Kino did was still illegal. If I were to be in Juan position, I would of turned in Kino. Just to keep the town safe and it would help Kino to be finally aware of the actions and past decisions he made. In one of the chapters, it showed Juana telling Kino to get rid of the pearl but Kino of course didn’t want to. Juana didn’t say anything, she was being

We all know the pearl, from the novel “The Pearl” was very deceiving. The pearl was suppose have a good impact on Kino’s life. However, the pearl turned out to have many negative effects on Kino’s life. The many different effects of the pearl eventually changed Kino’s life forever. However, the pearl had different stages and meanings in the novel, which includes the different symbolisms of the pearl, what the pearl meant Kino in different stages in the novel, and what it meant to the community.

Kino's life gets ruined by the pearl, when he starts hearing the evil sound he should have thrown it away the first time. It only brought trouble and conflict to his family,

The pearl has changed Kino from a content man to a man who is unhappy with just the love of his family. Instead he wants “stuff “ to make them happy. For instance when Kino says “ We will have new clothes. “(31). This quote explains that Kino wants to get things he does not need, but what he wants. The pearl has also imported others negatively. The pearl has ruined the life of Kino and his family. “ ‘This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us…’ “ (43). Juana has noticed that the pearl has become something much more than they can handle. It has destroyed those in its path, especially Kino. “ A dead man in the path and Kino’s knife, dark bladed beside him, convinced her.” (67). At this moment the pearl is pure evil as Kino has taken a human’s life. He and Juana know that life will never be the

     Kino overall symbolizes clearly good and innocent. Kino is thought of as 'a wise, primitive man' who is hungry for fortune because of the great pearl, which he discovers and later in the story he becomes 'an angry, frightened, but resolute man, determined to keep what he has earned'. He is a young diver who lives in a small village on the coastline of

Jealousy has always been a two-way trait that could be used to be beneficial, or used to destroy human’s lives. Kino started to realize that Jealousy was not the factor that was going to lead to his downfall, because the he understood that poverty and jealousy was not good enough to drive the people to do crazy things in order to get what they want. “Every man suddenly became related to Kino's pearl, and Kino's pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, 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 that he became curiously every man's enemy. The news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town; the black distillate was like the scorpion, or like hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when love is withheld. The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town swelled and

Kino maintains the man like actions throughout the story, but he often switches and preforms animals like actions. An animal is a living creature that acts with instincts and never thinks twice before performing an action. Throughout the story Kino acts as if he was an animal. He performs actions based on his instincts and does not think each action through before performing it. For example, “He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side.”(Chapter 5 Steinbeck) This quote shows Kino acting like an animal. A key feature that shows this is that he acted without thinking like an animal. He acted by instinct and his first instinct was to get the pearl away from Juana, because it was