John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl starts with a Hispanic man named Kino with his wife named Juana and his child named Coyotito. Kino and his family live in La Paz, a small little village near the Gulf of California. Kino looks for a pearl in the Gulf because his son, Coyotito has been stung by a scorpion. If Kino can find a pearl then he can get the doctor to heal Coyotito. Kino finds “The pearl of the world,” which is a magnificent pearl, it has perfect edges and perfect color, and it’s larger in size. Sadly, Kino’s personality and attitude turns for the worse, it even changes his motives. His obsession also grows, Kino even states,“This pearl has become my soul,” said Kino, “If I give it up I shall lose my soul, thou also with God.” (67). …show more content…
The pearl hooked on to Kino like a spell. It seems like the pearl took over Kino’s mind and he became this violent machine. He even hits his own wife, Juana because she wanted to throw the pearl back into the ocean. Juana knew that the pearl was changing Kino and she tried to end it, but, “Kino struck her in the face with a clenched fist and she fell among the boulders and kicked her to the side.” (58-59) During that time he also killed multiple people who tried to steal his pearl, he even had to run away from his own home. In fact, it's ironic to consider that at the beginning of the book, Kino wouldn't even hurt the tiniest ant. (3) However, he did go to the pearl seller, and he did get offered up to 1100 in pesos. In other words 50.50 US dollars, but he declined the offer and said, “This Pearl is worth 50,000, you're just trying to cheat me worth!” (50) From that moment forth the violence got 20x more …show more content…
As a matter of fact, the pearl practically mind washes Kino. It endangered him, took him through real life obstacles, and made Kino change who he really is on the inside. On the other hand Kino’s greed is on his part, he wanted Coyotito to go to school, he also wanted to marry Juana, but most of all he wanted a rifle. (24-25) A rifle back then, was a very graphic and bleak weapon at that time, which adds on to this dire misfortune in the book. Another dire moment in the book was when the doctor purposely poisoned Coyotito so that he can get the pearl from Kino as a payment for his “treatment” on Coyotito’s scorpion wound. When Kino got offered a low amount of cash for the pearl, it sort of brought out a violent phase. He went on a hot streak of violence. Consequently, they left La Paz thinking that if he was a target in his town, then he would be better off in another town. Of course he also brought the pearl along, but the result was tragic.
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.
his family. Greed and ambition have not only blinded Kino, but other members of his village as well. Jealous neighbors of Kino resorted to brutality and savagery in hopes of securing the pearl. Kino chose to respond to the attacks against him with more violence, and the
Susan Gregg Koger is the co-founder of ModCloth, a simple online shop where she sold the vintage finds she could no longer fit in her closet. She made a sale her first day. Today, ModCloth is one of the fastest-growing fashion and home ecommerce ventures to emerge in the past decade. The company did more than one hundred million dollars in sales last year, and is growing at a rate of 40 percent annually. The story of ModCloth begins when Eric, Susan’s then boyfriend, started a development business in 2000. They went to Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburg, and Susan stumbled over all these amazing pre-worn items at vintage sales. Eric had all of the technical skills to help Susan launch an ecommerce site. They thought they would get all of these gems
In order to sell his pearl for the highest price possible, Kino was forced to go to the capital. This was due to being cheated by the local pearl buyers. “I have been cheated,” Kino cried fiercely. “My pearl is not for sale here. I will go perhaps even to the capital.” By doing so, Kino wasn’t only risking a long journey, but also putting his family in harm’s
I believe that is because Kino thinks that the pearl is worth a lot of money. Therefore, even if Kino had an evil feeling and bad things were happening to him, he still kept moving forward. For example, Steinbeck quotes: “Her arm was up to throw when he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. 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). This quote is related to my thesis statement because Kino is trying to stop Juana from throwing the pearl away in order to move
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).
"Propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of public or mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds and emotions of a given group for a specific purpose, whether military, economic, or political" (Levinson). Propaganda is used to gain the support of its viewers on an issue by either false or misleading information.
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.
In the event that Kino was trying to run from trackers Coyotito, Kino and Juana’s young son suffered the consequences from Kino’s actions. Kino had brought a lot of pain to his family at this point in the story when they had to flee from La Paz and take refuge in the mountains. Kino’s brother hinted at the fact that this pearl would bring devastation to his
One of the first times the pearl brings evil to Kino is when Kino has just killed a man and says it was self-defense. He wants to keep the pearl for himself and his family, ignoring the danger and harm it has brought him and his family. When Kino is in his hut with Juana, she tries to convince him the pearl is evil. "Kino, this pearl is evil.
The most severe of all sentences: that of death. Also known as the death penalty, capital punishment is the most severe form of corporal punishment as it is requires law enforcement officers to kill the offender. It has been banned in many countries. In the United States, an earlier move to eliminate capital punishment has now been reversed and more and more states are resorting to capital punishment for serious offenses such as murder. In this essay, I will elaborate on capital punishment and on the cases of Joe Guy, Tommy Zeigler, Leroy Orange, and Charles Munsey.
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
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.
Kino knows right from wrong, he knows being obsessive over a pearl is wrong because it puts too much at stake, majorly the whole as is referred to as the way of life in The Pearl. You may also debate that It 's the pearl’s fault for Coyotito’s death because if Kino