The Pearl Reflection

After the aforementioned low-ball salesmen, Kino had decided that he was going to the big city to sell the pearl there and receive the money he felt it was worth, "For his dream of the future was real and never to be destroyed, and he had said, 'I will go,' and that made a real thing too. To determine to go and to say it was to be halfway there (Chap. 4).” This is where the greed is very noticeable with Kino being very determined that his way is the correct way and even if it meant leaving his wife and sick child behind. There was nothing that was going to stop him from being right and saving his dream he had as soon as he found the pearl.

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.

Originally, Kino and Juana had went to the doctor to see if he could treat Coyotito’s scorpion wound. He declines because he is discriminating of Kino’s race and that he does not have enough money. Later, when he learns that Kino has found ‘the pearl of the world,’ he decides to go back to Kino’s village and treat Coyotito. He did so out of greed for the riches of the pearl. He knew when he reached Kino’s brush house that Coyotito was already healed, but out of greed, poisoned him with a ‘medicine’ that he have the infant so that he would gain the riches of the pearl. He also offered to keep the pearl safe with him, and knowing that Kino would probably look at the hiding place of the pearl, he watched greedily. This greed is shown when the doctor is having a conversation with Kino after ‘saving Coyotito’s life’, “The doctor shrugged, and his wet eyes never left Kino's eyes. He knew the pearl would be buried in the house, and he thought Kino might look toward the place where it was buried. "It would be a shame to have it stolen before you could sell it," the doctor said, and he saw Kino's eyes flick involuntarily to the floor near the side post of the brush house.” Whether it was the doctor who assembled the attacks on Kino’s home, we do not

     John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is a Novella, which is longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. The story is about a poor mexican family and the father Kino, whose occupation is diving for pearls off the Baja peninsula. After retrieving the pearl the family becomes wealthy and content and soon after the father turns into a criminal. This shows how greed and aspiration can demolish innocence. Steinbeck's motive for creating the book was to show the reader that the cause of all this stress and chaos is because of poverty. As illustrated in The Pearl, people call for desperate measures when poverty

"And, as with all retold tales that are in people's hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between. If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it.” The Pearl is a novel written by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is known as one of America’s greatest authors. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature because of his realistic and imaginative writing. Steinbeck had traveled to Mexico, where he took a marine biology course, there he met a group of Indians, who told him the story of the “pearl of great price.” In the Pearl, Steinbeck develops the theme of how evil can bring man’s owns destruction; and can bring out the

Some ways the author showed how greed took over Kino was by using characterization, foreshadowing, and symbolism. Through characterization the author showed how Kino was overtaken by greed. In the beginning of The Pearl, Kino was a humble man who cared about his family before all else. “Kino’s eyes opened, and he first looked at the lightening square which was the door and then he looked at the hanging box where Coyotito slept” (Steinbeck 1). This quote from the beginning of the book shows how Kino watched out for his family and made sure they came first.

“And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, gloating and glowing in triumph.” (Steinbeck 20). This is one of many memorable quotes from John Steinbeck’s classic, The Pearl. While this story is composed of only eighty-seven pages, the author packs the book with more meaning and teaching than many authors have been able to in hundreds. Set in a small village in La Paz, Mexico, the tale deals with many topics, themes, and issues.

The works of John Steinbeck have been used universally on scholarly account because of his ability to establish themes in his writing that are relevant to life. The Pearl, is one work that contains issues as ideas that are still significant to this day. One theme, such as greed, is displayed throughout the course of the novel. As each character develops, their intentions with the pearl become evident to the reader. This theme is seen through many of the characters who are eager to obtain the pearl. In The Pearl, the theme of greed is shown through the doctor’s intentions, Kino’s attitude, and Juana’s discontent of the pearl.

John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl, describes a man and his family’s journey through financial setbacks, racism and the discovery of a pearl that changed their lives. The pearl, is the cause directly and indirectly of every troublesome event that occurs throughout the novel. There are three key events that clearly illustrate that the pearl is the cause of all misfortune. At first, Kino proclaims his visions derived from the pearl’s illusory value and his words backfire and result in great loss in the end. This is followed by Kino refusing the pearl buyers’ offer, sparking a chain reaction of unfortunate events. In addition to this, the hunters seeking for the pearl, whilst acting out of greed, end up destroying Kino’s family.

One of the ways John Steinbeck explains greed is through characterization. In the beginning of the story, Kino was just a normal brush house person. Later, after he found the pearl, he was overwhelmed by greed, as he thought about having new clothes, being married in the church, having his own rifle, sending Coyotito off to school, and anything else he wanted. Even after all the warnings and attacks, Kino continued to hold onto the pearl. Kino himself said that the pearl “Has become my soul….If I give it up I shall lose my soul, ” (Steinbeck 65). Only after he lost his house, his

The short novel The Pearl by John Steinbeck is based on an old folktale and is about a man named Kino, his wife named Juana, their baby named Coyotito, and the struggle they face when Kino finds the pearl of the world. Steinbeck shows that materialism and greed, left unchecked, can lead to immoral behavior through the characters of the town doctor, Kino, and the three attackers. Steinbeck uses the doctor as a symbol to represent the materialism and greed, left unchecked, can lead to immoral behavior. This seen when the town doctor refuses to treat the dying Coyotito. The narrator states, “Have I nothing better to do then cure insect bites for ‘little Indians’?

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck a presented idea is that greediness and power corrupt the best of men. The reader learns that greed and power are not a perfect couple, or even a decent one. The author continues to develop an elaborate story based upon the principles of human fault and wrongdoing.

Evil is shown by the doctor many times during the story. At first, he refuses to treat Coyotito because his parents have no money. When the doctor heard of Kino and Juana's fortune in finding "the pearl of the world", the doctor boasts that they were patients of his while thinking of a better life for himself in Paris. This greed and lust cause him to plot ways to gain wealth. Coyotito is healed by the time the doctor comes to Kino's straw

Another example of greed is shown when Juana takes the pearl from Kino to throw back into the sea. Kino realizes what she is doing and goes after her. Just as Juana is about to discard the pearl, Kino grabs her arm and wrenches the pearl from her. He punches her in the face and when she falls on the boulders, he kicks her in the side. The following quote establishes the violence that Kino unleases on his wife in order to protect his precious pearl from harm, due to his greediness of what the pearl will bring to him and his family: “…Rage surged in Kino. He leaped at Juana and wrenched the pearl from her…with clenched fists, struck her in the face…kicked her in the side…Greedy fingers went through his clothes” (58-59).

For this book report, I have chosen to read the book, “The Pearl”. The book “The Pearl” has a very strong moral and plot. The book is classified under the genres “Fiction”, and “novella”. The book “The Pearl” has a total of 90 pages. John Steinbeck is the author of this book.