The Pearl Quote Analysis

Kino’s desire to gain wealth changes the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck, turning it from a symbol of hope and happiness into a symbol of bad and

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

Of all the symbols that are in Steinbeck’s story, the pearl of the world is the most important because of its direct impact on Kino, Juana, and Coyotito. The Pearl is about a poor diver, Kino, who gathers pearls for a living. Then, on a day like any other, Kino comes to the surface of the sea with a pearl as large as a seagull’s egg. Kino thought it would be a source of wealth, hope, and comfort, whereas it was actually the evil that destroyed their family.

After confronting the scorpion, Kino and Juana encounter the doctor- the ultimate embodiment of evil in The Pearl. When the doctor’s servant explains Coyotito’s scorpion bite to the doctor, he claims “I am a doctor, not a veterinary,” and leaves the family, miserably, at his

To wrap it all up, the type of Good and Evil presented in The Pearl, is not one positive one compared to other situations. Kino could have avoided many problems if it wasn’t for his ignorance. Instead of thinking of reality, he was focused on the future which caused him a big loss and

Coyotito reached for the scorpion causing it to sting him; scorpion bites can be deadly, especially for a baby. When asked later on about that day, the day that changed his life, Kino said, “It was a morning like every other, a

Kino no longer saw the pearl as “beautiful, rich and warm and lovely” (19), but rather “gray and ulcerous” (89). The melody that was “glowing and gloating and triumphant” (19) was now twisted, “distorted and insane” (89). Because of people imposing their selfish desires on the pearl, it was ugly to Kino. He, through the death of his son, understood that the people of his village had corrupted the pearl with what should have been a beautiful, elegant means for a better future. However, once Kino and Juana threw the pearl back into the gulf, it “settled into the lovely green water…the waving branches of the algae called to it and beckoned to it” (90). The pearl becomes destructive and dangerous when it is entangled with notions of material value. However, it is returned to its original beauty only after it is thrown into the gulf. Kino’s action of throwing it back into the ocean represents him finally rejecting the greed that consumed him.

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

‘If I give it up I shall lose my soul,’” (67). This shows that the importance of Kino’s family in his life has changed because he says that the pearl has become a part of his soul. For Kino, what is important is no longer the pearl and the money it can bring to his family because he got carried away and forgot the fact that the pearl was bringing misfortune to himself and his family. As a result, both main characters’ characteristics and mindsets change throughout the stories due a variety of events that change their point of

In the introductory part before Chapter 1 of The Pearl, it talks about a parable. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or a spiritual lesson. In The Pearl, i think the parable of the story so far is Kino and his family finding the pearl. I think this is the parable, because they were very excited to find the pearl, because they thought the pearl would be able to treat Coyotito’s scorpion bite and they would be able to buy and supply things for their family better than they do now. The pearl did not do this, and caused evil to spread through their family.

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.

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

     Kino overall symbolizes clearly good and innocent. Kino is thought of as 'a wise, primitive man' who is hungry for fortune because of the great pearl, which he discovers and later in the story he becomes 'an angry, frightened, but resolute man, determined to keep what he has earned'. He is a young diver who lives in a small village on the coastline of

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.

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.