Essay on Mr. W. Somerset Maugham's Mr. Know-All

Kino’s desire to gain wealth changes the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck, turning it from a symbol of hope and happiness into a symbol of bad and

"And Juana, sitting by the fire hole, watched him with questioning eyes, and when he had buried his pearl she asked, 'Who do you fear?' Kino searched for a true answer, and at last he said, 'Everyone.' And he could feel a shell of hardness drawing over him"(Steinbeck 36).

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.

Kino no longer saw the pearl as “beautiful, rich and warm and lovely” (19), but rather “gray and ulcerous” (89). The melody that was “glowing and gloating and triumphant” (19) was now twisted, “distorted and insane” (89). Because of people imposing their selfish desires on the pearl, it was ugly to Kino. He, through the death of his son, understood that the people of his village had corrupted the pearl with what should have been a beautiful, elegant means for a better future. However, once Kino and Juana threw the pearl back into the gulf, it “settled into the lovely green water…the waving branches of the algae called to it and beckoned to it” (90). The pearl becomes destructive and dangerous when it is entangled with notions of material value. However, it is returned to its original beauty only after it is thrown into the gulf. Kino’s action of throwing it back into the ocean represents him finally rejecting the greed that consumed him.

Pearl is described as “So magnificent was the small figure, when thus arrayed, and such was the splendor of Pearl’s

“Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so they know the value of things, not the price” Victor Hugo stated. Kino and Juana did not have the values or money that many people had, but they had Coyotito. Coyotito shows many symbols such as love, devotion, dedication, and affection towards Kino and Juana throughout the book. In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Coyotito's illness and characteristics had an impact on Kino and Juana’s decisions.

Finally in Chapter Twelve, the Minister holds Pearl’s hand on the scaffold and his mind explodes, “there came a tumultuous rush of new life.”(p.139) Pearl then makes fun of the minster and she laughs, “wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide,”(p.139) and, “thou wast not bold,”(p.142) in an attempt to get the Minister to confess which, might seem silly. He refuses and continues to laugh as the Minister makes excuses.

She had a woman’s mouth with all its pearls complete: And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there but weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?’

Education helps children learn things they can not learn like reading and writing; it also teaches them how to use the knowledge and apply it to real life. When Kino finds the “pearl of the world” the first thing he thinks about is an education for Coyotito. Kino never had an education, so he wants to use some of his money to help his son get out of his poor lifestyle. When he decides to sell his pearl to the pearl buyers, they try to trick Kino into thinking the pearl is worthless. The pearl buyer explains, “it is large and clumsy. As a curiosity it has interest; some museum might perhaps take it to place in a collection of seashells. I can give you, say, a thousand pesos."(50) This quote shows how the pearl buyers tried to swindle Kino into giving them the pearl, but Kino knew it was valuable and left them. Even though not having an education is a big problem, discrimination is the worst of

This quote shows the greed in Kino is getting greater and greater. The reader can tell this because Kino is willing to hurt the person who he loves the most, and who loves him the most, just to keep his pearl safe.

The previously poor Kino was overcome by the thoughts of greatness that the pearl held when he could see the wealth in the pearl and the happiness it would

“‘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,’”

     Lastly, the Pearl of the World is hard to grasp for because it is significantly realistic to be true, yet it is as far idealistic as possible. Everyone wanted the same thing, but they knew they all would not be able to have it. The material pearl reveals the irony of good fortune in that what should have been the profession of a lifetime, turns out to be a disaster, producing a great

After a while, Coyotito had mostly healed and Kino needed some more money so he and Juana and decided to go on his special canoe and go hunt for pearls. His boat was special because it was well taken care of and had lots of coating on the boat. When they went out to sea, Kino dived into the ocean and started to look for good oysters that hadn’t been opened yet. He had collected about a bucket when he spotted a massive oyster that wasn’t with the others. He was very anxious to get to the canoe and open the oyster to see if there was a pearl. When Kino was able to get back on the canoe, he showed Juana the massive oyster and her eyes popped at the size of it. They start to open the pearl and they see this massive pearl in the inside of it. Kino knew this was the pearl of the world that everyone was

In conclusion The Pearl was a story that taught people about obsessions of earthly itemshat can easily be brought into our lives but is hard to change that life it has created when they destroy it. Kino learned this lesson throughout the story when he lost things that meant the most to him. Coyotito's life might not have been lost or their home destroyed. The story leaves a long-lasting impression on the reader to watch out for situations like this in our everyday