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The Pearl By John Steinbeck Sparknotes

Decent Essays

“It is the greatest Pearl in he world” (Steinbeck 19). The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, is an intriguing short story about a small family. The poor family consisting of Kino, Juana, and Coyotito live on the small island of La Paz. Coyotito, an infant, was stung by a scorpion, and the doctor does not want to help the poor family. Kino is determined to help his son, so he goes Pearl diving and finds the pearl of the world. He takes the pearl to some appraisers in his town, and he finds out his pearl is essentially worthless. Kino feels cheated so he heads to the capital city. On the journey, he knows he is followed so he carefully hides his family in a cave. At night he tries to attack the men following him, and Coyotito is shot because of this. …show more content…

Not beIn g a hard worker can result in terrible consequences. First, the acquisition of wealth is needed when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. At first, the family had no money and the doctor treated them as such poor people. The doctor said, “Have I have nothing better to do than cure insect bites for ‘little Indians’? I am a doctor not a veterinary” (Steinbeck 11). If the Indian family had some money, the doctor would have treated Coyotito on the spot. It was not until the family found the pearl did the doctor agree to help. The doctor works hard, and that is how he acquired his wealth. He did not treat the poor because they had no money to pay. That seems unfair that he would not serve the poor, but the doctor seems to justify it. The doctor obtains his wealth by working only with the upper class, so he is able to be payed fairly. Second, when Coyotito is denied service, Kino is determined to work hard to acquire wealth for his family. “Kino, in his pride and youth and strength, could remain down over two minutes without strain, so that he could work deliberately, selecting the largest shells” (Steinbeck 18). Kino was one of the many hard working men on his island. He had to work hard in order to gain some wealth, although it may not be a lot. Kino was not going to give up his dream of finding a pearl, so he could afford the doctor to save his son. His continuous hard work resulted in the pearl of the world, or so Kino thought. Finally, when not working hard, harsh consequences can arise. Kino said, “No one will take our good fortune from us” (Steinbeck 56). Kino said this right after he was attacked. Kino killed the attacker, as a result of self defense. The attacker wanted to take the pearl and gain some wealth, but being greedy and not working hard resulted in harsh consequences for the attacker. This short story continuously shows that working hard is needed to gain wealth

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