Commentary on The Pearl Essay

English Final Essay

Many people see the theme of the novel, the Pearl by John Steinbeck, as one concerning the dehumanizing nature of greed. Greed is referred to as evil in the book many times, and many of the characters seem to be affected by this greed at one time or another throughout the story.

The storys main character, Kino, is the one most heavily affected by greed. At the beginning of the novella, Kino is a simple man; he cares for providing for his family and his peoples culture. There are two major events that change his life from seemingly content to overly complicated. First was his sons unfortunate scorpion sting. During the part of the novella, we are first introduced to the element of greed. The doctor symbolizes the colonists greed and arrogance. The doctor sees Kinos family as below him so he feels he has no need to take care of Coyotito if they cannot afford treatment. Then event number two happens, that will change Kino forever. Kinos discovery of a pearl opens him up to many opportunities. He now has the ability to provide an education for his son, and a church wedding for him and his wife Juana. While these are seemingly modest wants, it becomes much more complicated. The doctor comes by that evening and administers medicine to Coyotito. When the doctor asks for payment, Kino tells him that he is going to sell his pearl soon and points toward the corner where he hid it. Before going to bed that night, Kino re-hides the pearl under a stone in his fire-hole. That night, Kino found someone trying to steal his pearl. Already we can see the corruption it has cause, and so can Juana. She suggests getting rid of the pearl, seeing the problems it has already caused. In the middle of the night, Juana runs away with the pearl. Kino wakes as she leaves and chases her. He tackles her, takes the pearl back, and beats her violently. As he returns, a group of men attack him and try to take the pearl. He fights them off, killing one guy, but drops the pearl too. As Juana comes up from the shore, she finds the pearl. She sees Kino on the ground, next to the dead man. Though Kino explains that he had no intention to kill, Juana says that he will be labeled a murderer. They decide to get away. Kino prepares the canoe, while Juana goes home to get Coyotito and their belongings.

Kino arrives at the shore and finds his canoe destroyed. When he climbs the hill, he sees a fire, and realizes that his house is burned down. Kino, Juana and Coyotito then have to go to Juan Tomss house, where they hide out for the day. Juan Toms and his wife, Apolonia, agree to keep Kino and Juanas secret and provide shelter for them.

At night, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito go to the capital. They sleep for most of the day and are preparing to set out again .Kino discovers that three people are following them. Kino decides to go up the mountain, in order of getting rid of the trackers. Kino attempts to mislead the trackers by making a false trai. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito then hide in the cave and wait for an opportunity to get back down the mountain.The guys following Kino make camp nearby, and two of them sleep while the other guy stands watch. Kino decides that he must attempt to attack them. Just as Kino attacks, Coyotito cries, waking the guys. When one of them fires his rifle in the direction of the cry, Kino makes his move, killing the trackers. Later, Kino slowly realizes that the rifle shot killed his son in the cave.

We now see all the corruption that has affected La Paz. The pearl transformed from a sign of good fortune, to a symbol of greed.There are some people in this novella, however, who arent affected. Juana was seemingly unaffected as she had nothing to do with the misfortunes but was more of a passenger to the ride. This story ends on a sad note, ultimately no good happening, but merely a lesson learned.