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
“Kino could see Juana in a shawl, stiff with newness and a new skirt, he could see himself dressed in new white clothes with a new hat, holding a new harpoon better than the one he had previously broken. He could see Coyotito, he wore a blue sailor suit from the United States and a little yachting cap, these are all things he wanted, that he could now have.” Kino states everything he wants and can now get in life which makes him more arrogant, leading him on a path of destruction. This also gives Kino something to look back on after it's too late. “In the moonlight he could see the frantic, frightened eyes, and Kino aimed and fired between the eyes. Suddenly he heard the keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry from the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death. He hastily scaled the mountain and entered the cave to bear the sight of a small limp heavy bundle. The shawl was dried with blood, and the bundle swayed a little swayed a little as it was held.” Kino has sacrificed the one thing he cares most in the world about for a simple pearl which again proves the point that Kino is truly a tragic hero. Kino believes that if he can come out safely with both his family and the pearl intact that he can live happily ever after, but with the pearl comes evil and death. Later in the novel when Kino is forced to choose between his family and
In The Pearl, Kino caused the tragedies his family experienced because he only cared about the pearl and therefore put every other concern second. For example, as Kino regained his consciousness after an attack during an attempted robbery, his first
At the beginning of the story they both felt content and happy as show in this quote “Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.”. They did not even speak because their understanding was so great. But after Kino found the pearl his relationship steadily deteriorates as shown in this quote “"Kino," she said huskily, "I am afraid. A man can be killed. Let us throw the pearl back into the sea." "Hush," he said fiercely. "I am a man. Hush.”. That shows that as time goes by Kino is acting ruder and harshly to Juana all because of the greed the pearl caused. Another example is "This thing is evil," she cried harshly. "This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us," and her voice rose shrilly. "Throw it away, Kino. Let us break it between stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It has brought evil. Kino, my husband, it will destroy us." And in the firelight her lips and her eyes were alive with her fear. But Kino's face was set, and his mind and his will were set” this quote shows that Juana is becoming increasingly fearful yet Kino is sure this is the way and is willing to do whatever is necessary to become wealthy. This causes a strain between their relation. Finally the worst thing Kino commits is the act of attacked Juana. He is described as a snake hissing at her and hitting her that makes her fall. He even continues to kick her after she has fallen and she accepts it and knows he may even murder her. This shows that Kino has broken all limits of humanity and is being consumed by
Although Kino performed many heroic acts, he also acted foolishly in various circumstances. He lives with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito. The novel tells his story when he happens to find a large pearl in the beach that has the capacity to either bring him death or happiness. After finding this big pearl, he believes that this is going to the beginning of a new chapter for him and his family because poverty was eventually going to leave them. His foolishness was first seen when he announced the pearl that he had found making everyone to try to steal it from him. Knowing the worth of the pearl, he should have kept the information to himself and sold it later. After seeing what people were able to do to him because of the pearl, he should have just sold it at the price the buyers said because it eventually led to the death of his son. The buyers only referred to it as a ‘fool’s gold’ and that it was not worth anything. Kino’s greed put his family in danger and caused the death of his only son. Even after he was convinced that the pearl was evil by his wife, he says, "The pearl has become my soul. If I shall give it up, I
Although the past cannot be changed, the future is in your power. But what if power is the reason the future cannot be changed? The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, is a timeless story that is filled with metaphors for how avarice takes over humans. Although there is no easy way
The evil in the pearl reaches the heart of the doctor. 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.
In hopes to save their sick child, parents Juana and Kino rushed into town to see the doctor. All the neighbors heard Coyotito scream in pain which lead them to rush out of their brush houses to see what was wrong. After learning that the baby was stung them all accompanied the family into town. Kino’s brother, Juan Tomas, gave his account of the
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.
Readers should have seen the evil of Coyotito’s death as well as all of the other unfortunate things that happened. Such as Kino’s canoe being ruined, their house destroyed, and Kino’s killing of a man. The canoe was foreshadowed slightly when it says, “Kino’s canoe which was the one thing of value he owned in the word” (8). This phrase may pop out as a hint knowing that Kino ended up valuing the pearl more. Kino never destroys or gets rid of the pearl so then what he did value got wrecked. “He saw that a great hole had been knocked in the bottom” (32). Kino and Juana’s house was bound to be destroyed. Readers get hinted at this because whenever Kino is at his hut he hears “the dark music of the enemy”, and the “Song of the Enemy”. Fire was the enemy that attacked their house with “flames tall and furious.” “They saw the roof fall and watched the fire die down as quickly as a twig fire dies” (33). The killing of the man is not as direct as this. This evil deed was simply foreshadowed when Juana said, “It is evil” (30). Evilness was hinted at quite a bit, however it was all predicted by the narrator when he said, “It is not good to want a thing too much” (10). It predicts that good is not going to happen because he wants the
Before Kino found the pearl, he wasn’t exposed to great hardship or struggle. When he found the pearl, Kino became very greedy and he experienced immense pain and loss. Furthermore, the pearl also caused Kino to lose his innocence. When Kino allowed evil and pain to take over his perspective of life he became angry. The first time Kino killed someone was when a man broke into Kino’s house in attempt to steal the pearl. Later in the book, Kino and his family we being shadowed by trackers in pursuit to kill him and his family and steal the pearl. After the trackers fired upon Kino’s child, Kino became filled with rage and the pearl grew gray and he let evil take him over: "And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane” (pg. 89). Kino then killed those who were in pursuit of him and shot at
News of the pearl travels quickly. when kino and juana return home people start to gather around them. kino starts making plans on what he is going to do with the money from the pearl. he tells everyone he is going to get married, going to buy new clothes for his family, buy a rifle and send coyotito to school. the priest comes to say that the church would need the pearl for repairs, juana respects the father’s words but kino was too busy on hearing the song of evil and the song of the pearl. when everyone leaves kino starts to think that everyone has it for the pearl and he is the only thing in their way. later the doctor and his servant come to kino’s home and he offers his services. he tells kino about the poison and he treats coyotito.
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
leave the town, but his fear only causes him to shoot Coyotito accidentally. Finally, Kino returns to La Paz and throws the pearl into the sea. Kino, a
Kino is the last person you would expect to abuse power. He is a kind loving man, who wouldn’t touch a fly. But all of that changes once power is involved. Juana was his everything in the beginning of the book. His partner in crime. And then he finds the pearl. Evil and greed begins to grow on him like mold on a moist piece of bread. The mold starts of small. Kino questions the doctor's authority. The mold begins the reproduce. He harms somebody with a knife in the middle of the night. And before you know it the mold has taken over the entire piece of bread until nothing of the bread is left. Kino beats up Juana on the beach when she tries to get rid of the pearl by throwing it back into the water, and then he kills a man with his knife. How did we go from not harming a fly to actually killing another human being? Power. Power turned this loving man into a monster that nobody would be able to recognize. He abused his power as a man by beating up Juana. His Juana. His everything. He risked his entire family’s lives by keeping this pearl but he didn’t see it that way. He saw it as the chance of starting over, when in reality it just made his life even more miserable than before. What comes from power? Greed? Evil? Hatefulness? All of the