The Pearl A Victim

Eventually he goes to sell the pearl to the white men in town, and they try to low-ball him because they think natives stupid and unintelligible. Steinbeck makes this known with highlighting what was important to Kino very shortly after he found the pearl it can also be seen as foreshadowing what will not happen.

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.

Wealth can allow people to have many good things in life, however, can also be very destructive if it is abused. Symbolism, imagery, and the characters show how wealth can either be helpful or devastating to people's lives. After the priest discovers Kino's new treasure, the pearl, he talks to him and says that he should donate money to the church to praise God or the Gods on his finding. The priest examined Kino and said, "It has come to me that thou hast found a great fortune, a great pearl." Kino then opened his hand and held it out, and the priest gasped a little at the size and beauty of the pearl. And then he said," I hope thou wilt remember to give thanks, my son, to Him who has given thee this treasure, and to pray for guidance in the future (Steinbeck 24-25). Each man sees in the pearl what they could do if they had the chance to discover the "Pearl of the World." The pearl's immediate and lasting effect on Kino is causing him to dream of better things for himself and his family. Although the pearl attracts intruders and pursuers, Kino determines that his family will rise above it. Most importantly, he expects his son, Coyotito to be at the same education level as the White Europeans. The story characterizes the sympathetic characters, Kino and Juana, as well as the unsympathetic character, the doctor. In the novella, Steinbeck shows that wealth can have

Steinbeck writes, “And then Kino’s brain cleared from its red concentration and he knew the sound--the keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry from the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death” (87). At this point, Kino has lost everything: his sanity, his respect for human nature, his son. As Kino denies the pearl buyer’s deals, he is setting himself on the path to self destruction, and is blind at what is yet to come. Little did he know that he was going to lose his whole world, but he just had to keep the pearl. Because of Kino’s greediness, his son was the victim of

Although Kino performed many heroic acts, he also acted foolishly in various circumstances. He lives with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito. The novel tells his story when he happens to find a large pearl in the beach that has the capacity to either bring him death or happiness. After finding this big pearl, he believes that this is going to the beginning of a new chapter for him and his family because poverty was eventually going to leave them. His foolishness was first seen when he announced the pearl that he had found making everyone to try to steal it from him. Knowing the worth of the pearl, he should have kept the information to himself and sold it later. After seeing what people were able to do to him because of the pearl, he should have just sold it at the price the buyers said because it eventually led to the death of his son. The buyers only referred to it as a ‘fool’s gold’ and that it was not worth anything. Kino’s greed put his family in danger and caused the death of his only son. Even after he was convinced that the pearl was evil by his wife, he says, "The pearl has become my soul. If I shall give it up, I

Being exposed to social classes, greed and the unfair qualities of life has made the real world grow. Because of social classes we are able to balance and achieve more for our societies (and taxes). Kinos town was perfectly balanced until the rumor was in the air of a stir in the social classes. Once the townspeople found out that a person of lower class now has the potential to be one of them or higher, the townspeople were at Kino and Juanas throats to procure their beacon of wealth. Juana and Kino being exposed to envy and greed at such a rapid pace exposed them to paranoia, the loss of their greatest treasure, not being the pearl, and to the reality of not wanting what they thought they needed. Once they lose their precious son, Kino hurls

Steinbeck uses the Pearl as a symbol to communicate the theme greed is not a good thing by making it almost corrupt Kino, making him very greedy for wealth. Throughout the book The Pearl, Kino is doing things that are influenced by the pearl, starting with heading to the capital to eventually killing a man, all for is greed. Right before Kino attempts to sell the pearl in his hometown, he is not blinded by anger at being cheated. When his brother indirectly suggests he go to other places to know the true price of the pearl, Kino refuses. “’How can we know what is a fair price, if we do not know what the pearl buyer gets for the pearl in another place.’

John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl, describes a man and his family’s journey through financial setbacks, racism and the discovery of a pearl that changed their lives. The pearl, is the cause directly and indirectly of every troublesome event that occurs throughout the novel. There are three key events that clearly illustrate that the pearl is the cause of all misfortune. At first, Kino proclaims his visions derived from the pearl’s illusory value and his words backfire and result in great loss in the end. This is followed by Kino refusing the pearl buyers’ offer, sparking a chain reaction of unfortunate events. In addition to this, the hunters seeking for the pearl, whilst acting out of greed, end up destroying Kino’s family.

Main character Kino embodies the prey-like qualities of the Indian population, experiencing firsthand the power of racism. When his son falls seriously ill, Kino’s lack of knowledge prevents him from treating his son, and he is forced to seek the assistance of a European doctor. Yet as he arrives at the doctor’s lavish home, the recollection of European cruelty surges in his mind and “. . . [rage] [swells] in him . . . his lips [draw] tight against his teeth - but with his left hand he [reaches] to take off his hat”(Steinbeck 9). As anger begins to dominate Kino’s emotions, his instinctual actions grow more primitive and animal-like. His “lips draw tight against his teeth” like an animal at bay, furious yet forced to comply with his indomitable foe. In spite of his anger, Kino must adhere to his plebeian duties, and like a dutiful pet, he resolves to show submission and respect towards the Europeans by taking off his hat. In a sudden turn of events, Kino stumbles upon a pearl of immeasurable value. When the news reaches the doctor, he offers his assistance under the assumption that Kino will repay him with the pearl. At the thought of the Europeans’ harsh

The Buyers are greedy because they wanted to purchase the pearl for a very small amount, in hopes that Kino would be foolish and take the deal of that small amount. The first Buyer wanted to cheat Kino by offering a thousand pesos (Steinbeck 50). “And the dealer felt a little tremor of fear” (Steinbeck 51) indicates that the Buyer was indeed scamming Kino. The Buyers had to make a life-altering decision; whether to give Kino the correct amount of money or to scam him. “Do not include me in the discussion...

”(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.

The pearl’s meaning to different members of the community is evil, jealousy, and freedom. During the novel, the community was thinking how much money is Kino going to get the pearl for and most of the community was jealous of how much money he’ll get. People think he’ll treat them differently with the money but not when Kino was poor as them. The pearl buyers were telling Kino that the pearl wasn’t actually a pearl it was like fools gold. Kino made a huge fit about and didn’t take an offer as well as the pearl buyers telling Kino “any pearl buyer will tell you the same thing as one of us here.” At the end of the novel, one person attacked Kino when he was down after hitting Juana. He killed the person who attacked him but was hunted by his friends. One of their friends killed their little child Coyotito and now Kino and Juana have to live somewhere else think of that memory of their first kid in their

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

“‘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,’”