Literary Analysis Of The Pearl By John Steinbeck

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.

Kino in The Pearl creates the theme of greed and power can make one’s downfall. In the book Juana (Kino’s wife) hears evil music with the pearl and fears it will tear apart the family and the village. So she sneaks out in the early morning with it and tries to get rid of it to free her family from evil but gets caught in the action by her husband who goes savage. “Her arm was up to throw when he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared. He hissed at her like a snake…”(page 58-59) This shows how greed and power can make one’s downfall because the greed of the pearl and the idea of what riches it could bring to the family and the whole village which makes Kino fill with rage when he sees Juana trying to get rid of

“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

One of the ways John Steinbeck explains greed is through characterization. In the beginning of the story, Kino was just a normal brush house person. Later, after he found the pearl, he was overwhelmed by greed, as he thought about having new clothes, being married in the church, having his own rifle, sending Coyotito off to school, and anything else he wanted. Even after all the warnings and attacks, Kino continued to hold onto the pearl. Kino himself said that the pearl “Has become my soul….If I give it up I shall lose my soul, ” (Steinbeck 65). Only after he lost his house, his

In The Pearl, Kino is depicted as a dynamic character who lives in a shadow of denial. As an indigent fisherman, after he finds the pearl of the world, the avarice drives him to crazy. He says that after he sells the pearl, his family will become rich and he will get a rifle. Yet, the truth he doesn’t face is that at that period of time, they are still living under colonization and it is impossible for his family to get a better life, not even a gun. When he

”(Steinbeck, 59). Kino acted in such a way to the woman that he had loved more than anything else in the world because of the pearl. The pearl made him so greedy that he cared more about it than his own

At first, Kino’s friends and family are happy for him for finding the pearl, but once the people started thinking of what they could gain from the wealth of the pearl, it corrupted them with greed. Greediness takes over the town’s people in the village by them realizing what the pearl can do for them. Influential people, like the town doctor, the pearl dealers and even the town's priest all are consumed with greediness for the pearl’s wealth. “The news came early to the beggars in front of the church, and it made them giggle a little with pleasure, for they knew that there is no almsgiver in the world like a poor man who is suddenly lucky” (24). All of these people with high moral values fall victim to greed when they try to steal the pearl from Kino.

“When you can no longer feel the life that you are, you are likely to try to fill up your life with things.” This quote from an unknown source explains that when a person receives something, they may think that it is the best thing they have ever found, but all it really does is make you do bad things which have major consequences. In the novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck, a poor fisherman named Kino finds the pearl of the world -- a pearl the size of a seagull's egg that is the biggest pearl anyone has ever found, only for it to destroy him and his family. Kino, having found a great pearl, is determined to get money and buy a rifle. He also wants to put Coyotito, his son, in school to get a good education.

The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, is a book about greed. The main character is a poor pearlfisher named Kino who lives in La Paz, Mexico. He has a wife named Juana and a baby named Coyotito, whom he loves very much. One day Kino finds a Great Pearl that makes everyone envy him because of its value. To Kino, The Great Pearl opens a door of possibilities.

Kino is cheated out of his money when he tries to sell his pearl to the pearl buyers. On page 52, “Now the dealers glanced quickly at one another. They knew they would be disciplined for their failure, and the man at the desk said quickly, “I might go to fifteen hundred.” The pearl buyers believe that they can purchase Kino’s pearl by giving their reasons as to why they think it is valueless. But, Kino due to a lack of education does not know if what they say is true.

Greed is a desire for something or selfishness and is not a favorable characteristic to possess. Greed is depicted many ways throughout the novel The Pearl through the main character Kino, a poverty-stricken brush house Indian who finds “the pearl of the world” while pearl diving. Greed changed Kino mentally and changed his life. Kino's greed reshaped his family, Juana and Coyotito, his wife and baby, and destroys their lives as well. Kino tries to throw his desirous ways away, yet greed cannot just walk out of his life in a simple way, it must take everything important to him first.

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

In the book, “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck, the authors shares many themes with the reader such as how greed is a catastrophic force that destroys, the way events can change life in a great unexpected way, and how the way colonial society believed they had a superiority to native people. Kino was content with his life before the pearl, and after he discovers the pearl he wants riches, wealth, status, and a “better” life for his son. The need and want for these materialistic things corrupted Kino’s innocence, and the pearl’s. Kino’s desire and ambition for wealth perverted the pearl’s naturally purity, good luck and natural beauty. Kino’s greed caused him to be violent towards his wife, his son’s death; his son one of the causes of his initial

He imagined a better life for his family. Despite everything that went wrong, despite people telling him to throw the pearl away, Kino continued to believe in the value and importance of the pearl. Early on Juana tried to convince Kino to get rid of the pearl, “‘This pearl is a sin! It will destroy us,’ and her voice rose shrilly ‘ throw it away.’”(John Steinbeck 38). Kino would have ordinarily taken into consideration his wife’s concerns and this was out of character. While under the spell of the pearl, It didn’t matter to him that Juana had his best interest in mind when she advised him to get rid of the pearl. Even after Kino was attacked, he was unwavering in his conviction in the value of the pearl, “but Kino’s face was set, and his will was set” Kino was given many chances to throw away the pearl, but yet he was stubborn and continued to believe in the pearl even though his world was falling apart and even though he could lose

“‘I am being cheated,’ Kino cried fiercely. ‘My pearl is not for sale here. I will go, perhaps even to the capital.’ Now the dealers glanced quickly at one another…the man at the desk said quickly, ‘I might go to fifteen hundred.’ But Kino was pushing his way through the crowd…When the evening came, the neighbors in the brush houses sat eating their corncakes and beans, and they discussed the great theme of the morning…‘And mark this,’ they said…‘Each of the three knew the pearl was valueless.’ ‘But what if they had arranged it before?’ ‘If that is so, then all of us have been cheated all of our lives,’”