The Pearl Symbolism Essay

Firsty, the symbolism in The Pearl is so crucial to the story that you could even say it was its own character. The actual pearl itself represented numerous things, all which change throughout the book. The pearl is left to each reader’s interpretation. When the pearl is first found, you almost get a glimmer

Many authors feel that Pearl could be a symbol for many objects as Barbara Garlitz writes, “Soon after The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850 Pearl was called both ‘an imbodied angel from the skies’ and ‘a void little demon,’ and time produced no unanimity of opinion. In the past hundred years she has been variously described as ‘most artificial and unchildlike,’ and as possessing ‘ the natural bloom… of childhood,’ as a creature ‘of moral indifference, as one not born into the moral order,’ and as an illustration of ‘that law which visits the sins of the fathers upon the children.’ For some critics she performs the function of ‘a symbolized conscience,’ but for others she is simply ‘a darksome fairy’ or ‘ the one touch of color in a sombre picture.’” (Garlitz 689). Pearl is seen in many different ways.

He shows that the pearl is corruptive by showing what it could do to a family. The pearl is betrayed as evil. Not only did it break a family apart but also it caused for death to arise. The pearl brought evil when bringing burglars, hoax, and fake people. The priest and the Doc.

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.

In The Pearl, the pearl that Kino retrieves from the depths of the ocean initially represents hope, or a brighter future to its owner Kino, because it has a high monetary value, Kino and society believe. In addition, it also showcases that God might be looking favorably at Kino and his family. “Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence. It was as large as a seagull’s egg.

I liked the way Steinbeck described the pearl because that allows the readers to clearly understand that this is not a normal pearl, but maybe a ghostly one. For example, Steinbeck quotes: “And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant.” (Steinbeck, 24). This example is related to my thesis statement because this situation occurs when Kino first saw the pearl, and the pearl brought him hope and surprise to his life during that period of time.

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

     Novels were created to show a very naive view in great depth. The Pearl is a novel in its most complete form. Steinbeck does this by conveying life symbolically. Through symbols, John offers the reader a clearer look at life and it?s content. He shows major imagery in four ways: Kino, music, Coyotito, and the 'Pearl of the World'.

There are very few things that seperate Pearl from the letter from each other except of course the obvious fact that one is simply an object, and one is living. At one point the narrator describes Pearl as "the scarlet letter endowed with life." this quote is very significant when the reader conciders this unique relationship.

“Kino has found the Pearl of the World.” (Chapter 3, page 11 on PDF) It has become the pearl of the world because due to the poverty of the village, they want the pearl for themselves and becoming more stable, everybody wants the pearl of the village and Kino has to protect

The Pearl in the book was said to be big as a seagull’s egg and is the pearl of the world. The pearl gives the family hope and the song of family is playing loudly when they find the pearl in the ocean. The Pearl also causes Kino to think about getting married and cause him to get greedy about buying other items and objects for his self. Kino tried to sell the pearl and the pearl buyers only offered him a small amount of money, the all knew what the pearl was worth. The value for the pearl causes Kino to fight off attacker and he even hit his wife Juana for trying to toss it into the

Kino is beginning to realize how at first the pearl seemed to have brought fortune and good to his family, but it really had only brought evil to the family. By the end of the story, Kino and Juana have lost their son, Coyotito, and they wish things were back to the way they were before they found the pearl. Kino then throws the pearl back out into the ocean where he had found it: “And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared” (90). The music disappearing as the pearl sink back into the ocean symbolizes the evil leaving the family: now that the pearl has left, so has the evil. Kino now understands that their “wealth” has brought nothing but evil and has destroyed both himself as well as his family. Not only does Steinbeck use the motif of music to express the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption, but he also uses the motif of light and dark imagery.

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.

In The Pearl by John Steinbeck the pearl symbolizes hope because it gives hope to Kino and his family to have an education so they can acquire more money and live a better life. Steinbeck writes “In the pearl he saw they were dressed, Juana in a shawl stiff with newness and a new skirt…”(steinbeck pg 25). The pearl is declared by the neighbors and Kino as the “Pearl of the world”, Kino believes that it could be worth a lot of money, a lot of money kino doesn’t have and that gives them hope for them in their lives to give them clothes and a house. On page 27 he writes “And my son will make numbers, and these things will make us free because - he will know and through him we will know” (steinbeck pg 27). The pearl could potentially pay for an

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.