What motivates you in life? In John Steinbeck's novella “The Pearl”, the main character, Kino, is motivated by his desire for success. Since Kino is so driven by his ambition to be wealthy and respected by his community, when he finds “the Pearl of the World” it causes him to forget about all the things he really cares about. “The Pearl” demonstrates that both people and fictional characters share many of the same motivators, that cause them to act in positive and negative ways. In this essay, I will review the motives of myself, Kino and Juana; characters from “The Pearl”, and then compare how all of our ambitions are alike.
Kino’s motivation is his desire for success. He wishes to be respected by others, to have everything he ever dreamed of, and to have enough money for all his family’s needs.
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She is willing to risk her life for her son and her husband, while also respecting Kino’s decisions. Juana is still prone to staying with Kino, even after his behavior causes the death of his own son. Only wanting the best for her family, she is against Kino keeping the pearl, as she starts to notice how he starts to forget about the things that really matter in life. “Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us.” (pg. 56) Juana tries to convince Kino to discard the pearl, but seeing how determined he is to have it, Juana does not fight his decision, as she does not want to lose her husband. “She could not live without a man. Although she might be puzzled by the differences between man and woman, she knew them and accepted them and needed them.”(pg. 60). When Coyotito, Juana and Kino’s son, is stung by a scorpion, Juana tries to suck the poison out of his wound, risking her life in the process. However, “This was Juana’s first baby-this was nearly everything there was in Juana’s world.”(pg. 7) The importance and love for family to Juana is the reason for the way she acts and her
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In this novella, I developed a thesis statement, which is: The pearl kept Kino moving forward because it represented hope during a period in his life. I chose this thesis statement because one of the aspects that makes this story move forward is Kino’s hope and greed; even if this greed is based on his hope. Steinbeck quotes: “Every man suddenly became related to Kino’s pearl, 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 he became curiously everyman’s enemy” (Steinbeck, 27).
In John Steinbeck's 1947 novella entitled The Pearl, Steinbeck employs his mastery in the usage of literary devices to intentionally to convey a theme, one that notes how before one rushes into a supposedly better life, they first must consider both consequences that will arise from the scenario and how the previous lifestyle may still offer greater advantages to their person. Steinbeck often uses imagery through the vivd descriptions found in his writing, but such imagery is occasionally often just a stepping stone towards a much more consequential literary device: juxtaposition. Using juxtaposition, Steinbeck manages to craft elaborate, dramatically contrasting lifestyles, settings, and even characteristics between those of different social
In many ways Kino, and his family, are stranded by themselves after their departure toward the capital. By leaving the small city of La Paz, they have let greed fully take over their lives. Later in the story the family makes a big turn for the worst and is overcome with depression. Kino has lost the greed that had ruined his life over and over again. By wanting to buy a rifle, sending Coyotito, his son, to school, and wanting a better life for his family he shows that he is a family man.
-Love your husband, Kino. Juana was astonish and heartbroken. She thought Kino would never ever do this. A few moments later, Coyotito woke up and was crying. Juana immediately fed Coyotito, took the pearl, and began her adventure to find her
First after one of the attacks Juana gets scared and says, “It will destroy us all.” Kino is so focussed on being rich that he doesn’t even realize how bad he could be hurting his family. Kino also goes a bit overboard when he is with the pearl buyers, “ My pearl is not for sale here. I will do perhaps even to the capitol!” Kino wants to be rich so he will not take the pearl buyers offers because they aren’t enough for him.
“A woman’s loyalty is tested when her man has nothing... A man’s loyalty is tested when he has everything.” This quote therefore describes a relationship, between Juana and Kino in “The Pearl.” In the book, this young couple lived a quaint life in their community village with their baby son, Coyotito. One day, when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, they turn towards the doctor for medical help, who refuses to treat their son unless they offer money to pay for the treatment.
The Pearl written by John Steinbeck is a parable, a story that teaches a moral lesson. This novel is centered on a poor Indian family, who live in a brush hut along the Gulf of Mexico and by the village of La Paz. The family consists of: Kino, a fisherman and pearl diver, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito. One day while diving, Kino discovers a great pearl that he calls, “the pearl of the world” (22). The theme of a literary work is defined as the central idea, concern or purpose about life that a writer wishes to convey. There may be several themes identified in a literary work; however, in John Steinbeck’s novel The Pearl the author uses the pearl to develop one of the most essential universal themes in literature, that of
One example of how Kino feels about his family is “Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat saying, this is safety, this is warmth, this is the whole.” (3 Steinbeck). I know that Kino feels positive about his family because the quote tells me that when Kino hears the song of the family he feels complete. The quote also shows that Kino enjoys the song of the family because it gives off a feeling of safety and warmth. Later in the story, Kino becomes corrupted by the pearl and focuses more on selling the pearl instead of the safety of his family.
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.
In literature, a tragic hero is a character of noble birth with heroic qualities. This character is usually fated by some supernatural force to great suffering, destruction, and even doom. Often, the hero struggles mightily against this fate and in the process, wins the admiration of the reader. The character of Kino in John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, while not of “noble birth,” is indeed a tragic hero. He suffers from the tragic flaw of greed after he finds a pearl of great value. Steinbeck, through the use of an omniscient narrator, reveals the human weakness of Kino’s actions in order to teach a moral lesson. At the same time, however, the narrator often shows a certain respect and admiration for the fact that Kino strives to realize his ambitions. He will stop at nothing to make sure he gets a fair price for
From the above explanation, we can see the purpose of people from the lower status and live in poverty like Kino who wants things above is a very natural thing. He has not been officially married in church, has no proper clothes, has no weapons that can be used for self protection or other urgent matters, and he has no idea what his future will be like. He wants
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
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
He imagined a better life for his family. Despite everything that went wrong, despite people telling him to throw the pearl away, Kino continued to believe in the value and importance of the pearl. Early on Juana tried to convince Kino to get rid of the pearl, “‘This pearl is a sin! It will destroy us,’ and her voice rose shrilly ‘ throw it away.’”(John Steinbeck 38). Kino would have ordinarily taken into consideration his wife’s concerns and this was out of character. While under the spell of the pearl, It didn’t matter to him that Juana had his best interest in mind when she advised him to get rid of the pearl. Even after Kino was attacked, he was unwavering in his conviction in the value of the pearl, “but Kino’s face was set, and his will was set” Kino was given many chances to throw away the pearl, but yet he was stubborn and continued to believe in the pearl even though his world was falling apart and even though he could lose