The Importance Of Violence In John Steinbeck's 'The Pearl'

“The Pearl” by John Steinbeck, truly has a great example to the life lesson on greed. A family destroyed and a culture distressed is what one can see in the short story, “The Pearl.” Greed plays an important role in the lesson of “The Pearl,” in which John Steinbeck uses imagery and foreshadowing to highlight this theme and he utilizes personification and similes/metaphors to explain the theme easily.

Is it always reasonable to blame the person who directly pulled the trigger to kill someone of being the sole reason of the victim’s death? Or is it more reasonable to investigate deeper into the events surrounding the homicide? This is one of the several debatable prompts John Steinbeck poses to the reader at the end of his novella The Pearl. The general context of this issue is that a pearl diver named Kino, native to and living in Baja California, finds a magnificent pearl, as perfect as “the moon… It was as large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world” (Steinbeck 10). The news of his good fortune spreads, attracting curious neighbors, but also the prying eyes of envious people, such as the local priest, doctor, and the pearl buyers. And when these people try to scam and then steal Kino’s pearl, Kino decides take his wife, Juana, and his infant child, Coyotito, and leave his village to go to the capital, in search of more honest people to sell his pearl to. But not far into his journey, a terrible tragedy takes place, as Coyotito is shot in head by “the trackers” who were hired to find and steal Kino’s pearl by the pearl buyers. Now, here, is where the question is posed, and different readers have opposing opinions. Numerous readers jump the gun and condemn the trackers for murdering Coyotito in cold blood, but if the reader makes their decision after examining and investigating the fundamental reason for the tragedy, it comes to light that Kino takes

Violence plays a key part in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice And Men, and there must be a reasoning behind this. In this essay I will pick apart some of the acts of violence that feature in the book, and try to explore why Steinbeck has included each one, how it develops the novel, the characters in it and helps him convey the key themes or messages he wishes to incorporate in his “valley of the world.”

Violence is very apparent in both our time and the 1930’s, shaping both of our lives. In Of Mice and Men, the workers of the ranch are forced to live dangerous lives, faced with murder and assault. Leading a tragedy free life is nearly impossible in a time that calls for action and violence.

Many people in the world today grow crazy and mad when surrounded by even the slightest bit of wealth and good fortune. Even a strong person who recognizes their priorities can still become corrupt with too much power. There is no better example of a person falling into the path of evil and corruption than in a novel written by John Steinbeck. In the novel The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the author writes about a poor Indian man named Kino who becomes corrupt from the wealth of a magnificent pearl. Steinbeck uses the motifs of music, light and dark imagery, and values to develop the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption. The reader learns that one

Throughout American history, one thing remains constant: United States citizens discriminating against each other. In the 1930s, the rich California landowners acted as though they were racially superior to the incoming migrant workers, or as they were called, “Okies”. Today, we see the same type of behavior coming from our police officers. Shootings of black citizens by white police officers has become a major issue in our nation, and it has gone so far that NFL players kneel for the national anthem before games to draw attention to the issue and that violence has broken out in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia. President Trump has been forced to comment on the issue, which has only lead to more controversy, as he stated that he believes

People often act out in violence because they are insecure about their appearance and their abilities. Everybody has their own way of reacting to violence whether it's unintentional or intentional. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck he shows violence through Curley, Lennie, and George. Curley answers to a problem through violence and threats. For instance, Curley got offended by Lennie laughing at him and candy fighting, Curley takes advantage of Lennie and starts to fight him knowing Lennie can't fight back, Curley “slashed him with his left and then smashed down his nose with a right”(63).

Another example of humanity’s struggle with violence theme happened when Kino killed a man in self-defense. Kino was caring and friendly; he would never intently mean to harm or kill anyone unless someone was bringing harm to him and the things that he loved. One night a “dark one” on the path attacked Kino as he was walking toward his brush hut. The “dark one” wanted Kino’s pearl and would do anything to get it. In return, Kino also wanted the pearl and would protect it at all cost. The following quote demonstrated the violent actions that resulted due to this attack, “He heard the rush, got his knife out and lunged at one dark figure and felt his knife go home” (59). Kino’s violent actions towards the dark figure revealed the theme of violence. This dark figure, who attacked, Kino wanted his most valuable possession and Kino was not going to give his pearl up for any reason. Kino protected what was his, his pearl. Kino felt he attacked the “dark one” in self-defense, but the way the town’s people thought it was different. Violence, once

Just as Joe Rogan said, “No matter how civilized we are and how much society has curbed violent behavior. Human beings still have the same genes they had 10,000 years ago. Our bodies are designed to have a certain amount of physical stress and violence in them.” And when diplomacy does not make the trick, we usually draw upon guns. And after thorough analysis, I have come up that in American History, we can “divide” violence into two. International and National.

“Violence- look, we live in a violent world, man. This country was founded on violence. Who’s kidding who?”, complains Bruce Willis. The world is a very violent place. In the media, they only really depict the physical violence. In literature, violence takes on a whole new role with two different forms. Thomas C Foster explains these two forms in How to Read Literature like a Professor. Coincidentally, these two types of violences are shown in Steinbeck’s novella. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, both types of literal violence are shown through Crooks and Lennie’s life experiences.

Racism, injustice, and violence sweep our world, bringing a tragic harvest of heartache and death-Billy Graham. George and Lennie are best friends. They want to own a farm together. They end up working on a farm and meet some people. Lennie kills Curley's wife because she is flirtatious and lets him pet her hair. Then Curley wants to kill Lennie. Many things in this book happen because of violence and book title: Of Mice and Men. Through the characters Lennie, George, and Curley, John Steinbeck says violence doesn’t solve anything.

It is axiomatic that violence is a predominant feauture of the book: violence is used to commit vitriolic acts or to create sympathy towards characters, the book explains the consquences of solitude and how violence is a very pusillanimous way of solving arguments or forwarding your opinions. Violence is the destroyer of dreams, it can destory every single hope and can enervate characters. Of mice and men offers a new opinion of iternant workers and black people. It also invites us to think about our natural supercilious instinct to take advantage against the weak, vulnerable, unteneable and differently coloured is wrong and using violence to threaten them by tone of voice or physically hurting people will lead to consquences. Violence always

The men's fear of getting hurt prohibits many of them from getting too close to one another. The farm is a prime location for fights to break out because the men are always in such close proximity to each other and they all are extremely concerned with getting their work done for the day and keeping their job. Most of the men know that one fight would get them thrown off the ranch and make them out of a job, so they keep to themselves and do not bother with the other men. Furthermore, the men can not afford to get hurt, because this too would result in them being out of work. For example, Lennie’s sheer size repulses many of the men on the farm. They fear him because they all know he could easily hurt any of them. Nobody on the farm messes

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. It is this evil which moves the story along and adds drama. It causes the beginning of a happy spirit, but the downfall of goodness and humanity.

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