The Pearl Essay

After finding the "Pearl of the World," Kino struggles to protect the pearl, himself, and

After Coyotito is cured, Juana and Kino end up fighting off thieves, robbers, and themselves when the greed and lust for the pearl become unbearable.

The book starts off with Kino waking up next to his wife Juana. Kino looks at his baby Coyotito and notices a scorpion crawling down a rope into his cradle then crawls onto Coyotito. The song of danger is sung while Kino reaches his hand towards the scorpion to try to save Coyotito. The scorpion stings coyotito and Kino throws it off of coyotito and punches it into the ground. Kino takes the baby to the doctor but the doctor refuses to help Kino's family because they don't have money to pay the doctor to help Coyotito. Kino punches the gate and they go down to the beach. At the beach Kino takes his boat out to look for pearls while Juana wraps Coyotito's sting with seaweed. While Kino is diving for pearls he finds one the size of a seagull egg in a oyster. Kino rush Coyotito to the doctor again now that they have the money to pay the doctor to help him.. Then Juana takes the seaweed off of Coyotito's sting and everyone notices that the sting was getting better. So they leave the doctor and everyone in the village finds out about the pearl. People gather around Kino's house to look at the pearl. Then the doctor comes and tells Kino that Coyotito won't live unless he takes some medicine. While the doctor is there he finds out the hiding spot of the pearl. Later that night some people jumped Kino and tried to steal the pearl but fails and runaway. The next day they decide Kino and his family should sell the pearl. They go and try to sell the pearl but our given low prices to try to get the pearl for cheap. So Kino decides not to sell the pearl and headed back home. Later that night Juana tries to throw the pearl back into the ocean but Kino stops

Greed is perhaps one of the most destructive forces in this world, it breeds anger, hate, jealousy, and more. The novella “The Pearl” is based on how the finding of a pearl causes greed to be awakened in the hearts of people and cause them to commit evil. During the Novella, Steinbeck develops the theme that greed left unchecked can cause immoral behavior and that is show in the doctor, the attackers, and Kino. All of them are forced by greed to commit sins that they otherwise would not do.

First, Kino’s call to adventure with Coyotito being savagely stung by a scorpion and Kino having to find money for the doctor to pay for Coyotito’s medical treatment, second,Kino’s allies that will be by his side no matter what and lastly the examples of how Kino is truly a tragic hero. In John Steinbeck's novella, The Pearl the text gives many hints and clues that the novel follows the pattern of a Hero's Journey. This essay will cover the 3 main aspects of Kino's Journey which eventually leads to his ultimate sacrifice. My claim is significant and relevant to The Pearl because without the three main aspects to Kino’s Journey, the novel would not be the award winning, captivating book that it

Kino was attacked by mean trying to steal the pearl. He killed one of them in self-defense but Juana tells him that does not matter. He will still face consequences from the townspeople once the body is found in the morning.

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.

Juan Tomas who is Kino’s older brother, warns him about the peculiarity about the unusual events that happen to him due to discovering the pearl. He says “ There is a devil in this pearl. You should have sold it and passed on the devil” (Bender 98). This quote shows Juan his happy for his brother and wants him to be wealthy but he is also nervous about how society and his life will change around him because everyone wants the pearl.  He hides Kino and Juana in his house after he finds out Kino had killed someone to protect himself. Apolonia who is Juan’s wife warns Kino as well about the dangers of the pearls discovery. She has four children too and agrees to give Kino and Juana housing if they need it. Those characters are well aware of the strange occurrences that follow the finding of the pearl. Steinbeck has included them in his book to show that greed can come of a situation like as illustrated in the book. Another character the doctor, is represented in the book as selfishness and greed in the society. He does not agree to treat Coyotito after he has been bitten by a scorpion until he finds out Kino has a pearl that is worth great fortune. Most people in the book become close to Kino to be closer to the pearl. This demonstrates the lust for currency, which Steinbeck truly despises. The priest as well tries to get close to Kino in hopes he can receive some money. The trackers and

In the end of the book, Kino and Juana returned to the village, a dead child in their arms and grief in their hearts. Kino finally realized that he needed to give up the pearl that was taking charge of his mind. He thrusted the pearl back into the ocean, burying it in the sand, hopefully forever. Juana and Kino finally made the right decision and fought evil back with good, only his son dying brought him back to the reality that family was more important, that love was better than

However, two vibrant changes occur as the story progresses —Coyotito, his son, getting stung by a scorpion and Kino’s discovery of the pearl—broaden Kino’s horizons and outlook on the world. As Kino begins to strive for wealth and education for his son, the simplicity of his life becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence. Kino’s character then falls through a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of corruption and disillusionment. The factors promoting this decline are ambition and greed. Thus, when going got tough for Kinoo and he had to escape town he faced a lot of hardships, since he had to go into hiding and the only immediate help he had was from his brother. This had an adverse effect on his personality as he became increasingly negative, given the way he hit his wife shows how the pearl preoccupied his mind to such a great extent that he grew indifferent to everything else as evil and restlessness eloped him. In addition to these social changes, Kinoo, after attaining the pearl was on the move to gain economic sustenance, but not being able to find the right price to sell his pearl got him feeling even more uncertain and disappointed but he continued to strive and was reluctant to give up because he wanted everything in his reach for his son, who he consequently ended up losing in the

The pearl's evil infects Kino like a ravaged disease and consumes his mind. He starts off with good intentions, but they become twisted. He wants to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's lifestyle. He has dreams and goals that each depends on the pearl selling for a good price. Juana sensing the evil and greed coming from Kino attempts to destroy it. Kino beats her unmercifully. "He struck her in the face and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...He hissed at her like a snake and she stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before a butcher." Juana sees through the outer beauty of the pearl and knew it would destroy Kino and herself. Kino's vision from the soul becomes blurred by the possible prosperity the pearl will bring. The evil invades Kino's life as well as everyone he knows and loves.

An example of Kino and his family being target by those who mean harm to them is when Kino, Juana, and Coyotito were all sleeping at night when all of a sudden Kino was attacked by a dark one outside of his brush house. Kino, Juana, and rest of the village were coming back from the pearl buyers who stated the pearl had no value. Kinso was disappointed, when he then walked out of the brush house, when Juana heard the attack. “Kino lay on the ground, struggling to rise, and there was no one near distances”(56). After these sentences, the author proceeds to tell the audience that Kino can feel the evil around him. This piece of evidence shows that Kino is a victim in which he was being bright for have a pearl that could possibly change his life. After Kino’s beating, Juana began to realize that the pearl is evil and will curse her family. Her thinking then leads to events later in the story. The oppression Kino received creates a long lasting taste of the pearl in the family’s mouths. While Kino, Juana, and Juan are realizing that the pearl is evil, the pearl begins to change Kino, and for the most part, the

Kino and Juana headed towards the forest as the soundless night grew and they knew that some evil person would follow and eventually kill them. Coyotito was still sound asleep and Juana hung him around her hip as she walked with Kino. Suddenly, Kino came to a stop and warned Juana that he heard footsteps and he knew that someone was following them. They heard the click of the carbine and figured that they had to hide before the devil fired. They ran until they were sure that no one was there but they didn’t know that everyone wanted the pearl and they would do anything for it. That night, as Kino and Juana found a place to stay, they were followed by several strangers, some avarice people who belonged from La Paz and other indigent people who heard about the pearl. Juana who was now really tired wanted her family to be warm so she went outside the cave to gather wood. Before she left, Kino warned her to be judicious

Finally, Kino returns to La Paz and throws the pearl into the sea. Kino, a

In conclusion The Pearl was a story that taught people about obsessions of earthly itemshat can easily be brought into our lives but is hard to change that life it has created when they destroy it. Kino learned this lesson throughout the story when he lost things that meant the most to him. Coyotito's life might not have been lost or their home destroyed. The story leaves a long-lasting impression on the reader to watch out for situations like this in our everyday