The Pearl By John Steinbeck Research Paper

At the beginning of the story Kino believed the pearl was a great treasure because it, “was as large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world. ” (pg.19) At the end of the story it was no treasure. It brought great amounts of greed to Kino making him do anything to protect and try to sell the pearl.

At this point in the book the pearl has taken control of Kino’s actions. He is a self-centered man who thinks he will never need any help. He thinks, due to the pearl, he has became superior. While really the opposite happened. Kino is now a different man from whom he was at the

In order to sell his pearl for the highest price possible, Kino was forced to go to the capital. This was due to being cheated by the local pearl buyers. “I have been cheated,” Kino cried fiercely. “My pearl is not for sale here. I will go perhaps even to the capital.” By doing so, Kino wasn’t only risking a long journey, but also putting his family in harm’s

In The Pearl, the pearl that Kino retrieves from the depths of the ocean initially represents hope, or a brighter future to its owner Kino, because it has a high monetary value, Kino and society believe. In addition, it also showcases that God might be looking favorably at Kino and his family. “Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence. It was as large as a seagull’s egg.

The Pearl written by John Steinbeck follows the journey of a poor family that gets lucky. In this impactful tale about how Kino’s, the father’s, perfect life turned into a roller coaster constantly going down. When Kino finds the Pearl of the world, greed and avarice built up in him and others in the town, causing Kino’s personality to take many different forms. From a man to animal to machine Kino is continuously changing as the family goes on their difficult journey throughout the tale.

Kino had peace in him in the beginning of the story he loved his family everything was peaceful in his life before the pearl.his mornings were very peaceful” kino heard the little splash of morning waves on the beach”. Kino had a peaceful song in his head the song of the family, kino this village he lived in was peaceful,” the sun was warming the brush houses, breaking through its crevices in long streaks”. Kino had no rage in him or hate he was just a peaceful guy who loved his family who lived in a peaceful village. When kino did not have the pearl he was not greedy or has too much pride in him he was a peaceful man without the pearl.

In the novella, The Pearl, Kino is faced with many decisions that later impact his life in ways that he could never image. The Pearl tells the tale of a great pearl that could change the life of any man. Kino happened to be this man, but this great pearl caused nothing but havoc and harm to come upon his family. When they were running from all of the trouble the pearl had caused them, Kino’s son died, their hut burned down in the attempt to get away, and Kino had become a man of anger and violence.

In the beginning of the novel he was very humble of what he had and he didn’t ask for more or less. When he found the pearl he noticed that now he will be rich and his old life sucked, he’s going to have a new life because of this pearl. (cite when he goes to get the estimate of the pearl) Kino didn’t take what was offered he wanted more and this lead to anger and eagerness. Kino changed from being patient to wanting it now and wanting more. Even after the pearl put his whole family at risk, During the movie there was a part where Kino and Juana were fighting because Juana wanted to throw away the pearl after this huge fight of saving or throwing away the pearl they arrived back into their home to find it in flames, they assumed that cayotte their son was dead.

Kino is beginning to realize how at first the pearl seemed to have brought fortune and good to his family, but it really had only brought evil to the family. By the end of the story, Kino and Juana have lost their son, Coyotito, and they wish things were back to the way they were before they found the pearl. Kino then throws the pearl back out into the ocean where he had found it: “And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared” (90). The music disappearing as the pearl sink back into the ocean symbolizes the evil leaving the family: now that the pearl has left, so has the evil. Kino now understands that their “wealth” has brought nothing but evil and has destroyed both himself as well as his family. Not only does Steinbeck use the motif of music to express the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption, but he also uses the motif of light and dark imagery.

After fighting battles with himself, Kino began to lose his ability to control himself because he was set on his plan for his family that he once saw in the pearl. “He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders and he kicked her in the side.” (Steinbeck 59). Multiple instances have occured since Kino first got the pearl, including two attacks to steal it during the night, as well as thousands of eyes that have stared through him and looked into his soul full of secrets, making him feel scared throughout the day and night, worried that those eyes would turn into attacks on his pearl, which holds the future for his family. After Juana, Kino’s wife had enough jealous stares and greedy attacks, she took the pearl and boldly planned to throw it into the water, for it to drown with the wealth and the struggles attached to it. But, as Kino was constantly aware of everything occurring with the pearl, he didn't care whether it was his wife or a stranger, because he knew he had to attack and prevent the loss of the pearl, especially since he has such a close connection to it. “The pearl has become my soul. If I give it up, I shall lose my soul.” (Steinbeck 67). Kino cannot live without the pearl and as everyday goes by, his connection with the pearl grows stronger, and his

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

All of the village people suddenly sparked an interest in Kino once he discovered the pearl, “people with things to sell and people with favors to ask. Kino had found the Pearl of the World. . . .Every man suddenly became related to Kino's pearl, and Kino's pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man's enemy” (Steinbeck 23). The pearl does not result in an immediate change in Kino’s personality, but rather how others view him. The pearl symbolizes hope, a trait that Kino previously possessed, but somewhat lost after the incident involving Coyotito’s illness. Kino’s “eyes and voice [became] hard and cold and a brooding hate was growing in him” (Steinbeck 38). At the beginning of the novel, Kino is very optimistic and positive. Therefore, when this hate begins to consume him, it is very unusual, leading us to believe that the pearl has an influence on Kino.

With the world of the pearl spreading, in three chapters, three attackers attempt to rob Kino from the pearl by any means necessary. One example is on page 37, “...and then his head crashed with lighting and exploded with pain.” After everyone knew about the pearl, one person decided to go and attempt to mug Kino to get the pearl. Another example is on page 56, “Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long deep cut in his cheek from ear to chin, a deep, bleeding slash.” After Kino got the pearl back from Juana and was walking, he endeavoured another encounter with an attacker. Lastly, Kino kills the man that attacked him on page 56, “You have killed a man.” These examples show the violence being dealt to Kino due to his possession of the pearl.

Kino knows right from wrong, he knows being obsessive over a pearl is wrong because it puts too much at stake, majorly the whole as is referred to as the way of life in The Pearl. You may also debate that It 's the pearl’s fault for Coyotito’s death because if Kino

I read the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck. This book was wrote in 1947. The main character is Kino. Kino has a wife Juana and a infant son Coyotito. They live in a modest brush house by the sea. One morning a scorpion stings Coyotito. Hoping to protect their son, Kino and Juana rush him to the doctor in town. The doctor turns them away because they are poor natives who cannot pay enough. Later that same morning, Kino and Juana take their family canoe, an heirloom, out to the estuary to go diving for pearls. Juana makes a bandage for Coyotito’s wound, while Kino searches the sea bottom. Juana’s prayers for a large pearl are answered when Kino surfaces with the largest pearl either of them has ever seen. Kino lets out a triumphant yell at his good fortune. In the afternoon, the whole neighborhood gathers at Kino’s brush house to celebrate his find. Kino names a list of things he will do with his new wealth. Including a education for his son. The neighbors wonder if he is foolish or wise to harbor such ambitions.