The Pearl By John Steinbeck

The loss of innocence John Steinbeck’s book, The Pearl, is about a Mexican pearl diver, Kino, and his family. The story is told through the eyes of an outside narrator about his journey with “The Pearl of the World.” The main character is Kino, who is hardworking and desperate to support his family. In the book, the author uses revealing actions to show that disappointment and greed can make a man forget his purpose. Kino started as a family man, but by the end of the book, he was controlled by the greed he felt in his heart.

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.

But her joy didn’t last for very long. A few days after the pearl was found, Juana cried, “It will destroy us all,” “even our son.” There was also another incident, where Kino was badly wounded, “There was a long deep cut in his cheek from ear to chin, a deep, bleeding slash.” After this occurred, Juana said, “Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us-let us throw it back into the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil.

John Steinbeck’s novel, “East of Eden”, discloses the answer of right and wrong, good versus evil and overcoming sin with a simple Hebrew word “Timshel”, meaning thou mayest, allowing us the freedom to make our individual decisions or choose our path in life; it’s actually God’s perfect gift to everyone. In the beginning, God grants us free will so that we have the ability to love and accept him or not. However, had God not chosen to grant us free will, we would not be human as we know it today, for the original sin would never have occurred. Likewise, people’s inability to experience emotions of any kind, whatsoever, would turn us into mere mundane robots, forced to listen and answer to an authoritarian God. Lee plays an instrumental part in “East of Eden”, by not only bringing into focus “Timshel” and its meaning to the Trask family but through his strength and character as a whole, for without Lee “East of Eden” and the concept of “Timshel” is non-existent.

An image or a thousand words, which is more impacting? For decades now enthusiasts have participated in endless debates over films and novels. Whether it be a novel that is adapted into a film or a film that is converted into a novel, neither of the works will be an exact image of the other. Often the first piece will obtain mass amounts of popularity, thus influencing the production of itself in the opposing format; however, the mass majority of these occurrences end with a subpar recreation that is abhorred by fans. The Grapes of Wrath, on the other hand, was highly renowned and won awards as both a novel and a film. John Steinbeck published his novel in April of 1939, and it won the Pulitzer Prize and the

In the Novella’s conclusion completes Steinbeck's moral argument that money doesn't buy happiness. In the beginning of the story we see how Kino and Juana are a poor family but they are happy. When Kino find the pearl they believe that they will be happy with the money they are going to receive from the pearl. Later in the story we see how money start

John Steinbeck’s The Pearl follows the story of a Mexican-Indian family who lived in a small village on the coast of the Baja peninsula during the colonial era in Mexico. Kino works tirelessly as a pearl diver to provide for his wife, Juana, and Coyotito, his son. Although he was poor, he and his wife were initially satisfied with their lives. However, Coyotito’s scorpion sting and the discovery of the Pearl of the World opened Kino’s eyes to a much larger world. His simple, peaceful life was marred by the violence and conflict that the pearl brought. The pearl, which incited greed in all who come in contact with it, changed from a symbol of hope to that of chaos and misfortune.

Throughout John Steinbeck's The Pearl, the stereotypes of Kino and his people are highlighted severely. One of these stereotypes are the role of men and women during that time period. Kino and Juana lived in a patriarchal society where men controlled the community, government, and the church. Kino and Juana were no exception to this standard. Kino and Juana’s relationship finally becomes equal after the difficulties they face ensuing the pearl.

1. What does Juana attempt to do at the beginning of the chapter to the pearl? Why?

During the Great Depression, it was not uncommon to become morosely secluded while working. Men would go far away from their families in search of any jobs they could get, with only themselves to confide in; colleagues only filling in the void of friends and family partially. Naturally, John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, written during this period, would reflect this fact as a major aspect of the story. Loneliness would become the sinew of Of Mice and Men, manifested in some of the story’s main characters: Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. These allusions to loneliness are found throughout the book, mimicking the rampant disease of isolation at the time.

However, Kino was enraged with anger at Juana for trying to throw away his pearl. The pearl had changed him for the worse, it had become part of him he loved the pearl. Kino would do anything to make sure that nothing would happen to it, even if it meant beating up his wife in order to save his pearl.

After discovering the pearl, however, Kino begins to dream of possibilities for his family, most importantly an education for his son, which was something he previously never thought of as he considered it absolutely out of reach. His dreams gradually start becoming more and more materialistic as he stares at the pearl’s surface. Consequently, he drifts apart from his culture and family customs, he escapes town and ends up killing a man, being inherently deceived by the pearl. When he returns to the village, wrecked by the death of his son, he first offers Juana the chance to throw the pearl into the sea. This indicates that he has learned to value her sense of judgement and is, in a sense, yielding to her. But she insists on Kinoo throwing the pearl into the sea instead and that shows that she remains faithful to their previous alignment of life and as always, seek and strives s to preserve

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

Although the past cannot be changed, the future is in your power. But what if power is the reason the future cannot be changed? The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, is a timeless story that is filled with metaphors for how avarice takes over humans. Although there is no easy way to get rid of it, Kino goes through many challenges to free himself from the troubles that come with possessing the power the pearl held. Kino went from a loving human to a dehumanized figure because he saw great wealth in the pearl, attacked in order to maintain the power it held and lost the ability to have emotions.

The pearl then makes Kino impatient and desperate for good luck, therefore he resorts to violence. He “strike[s] [Juana] in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side” (Steinbeck 59). These violent outbursts of anger are unlike Kino. He has resorted to beating his wife, who he