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Type Of Work · Novella

Genre · Parable, allegory
Narrator · The anonymous narrator writes as if telling an old story he or she knows
very well. The narrator frequently alludes to the story’s ending and freely describes the
inner thoughts and feelings of various characters. Rather than tell the story in his own
voice, Steinbeck chooses to narrate in a stylized voice recalling that of a storyteller from
a society like Kino’s, in which stories are handed down from generation to generation,
eventually losing their specificities and becoming moral parables, as Steinbeck
insinuates in the opening epigraph, by virtue of sheer repetition.

Point Of View · The narrator uses third-person, omniscient narration, meaning he or

she not only tells us what various characters think and feel but also provides analysis
and commentary on the story. The narrator shifts perspective frequently, focusing most
often on Kino but occasionally focusing on other characters such as Juana and the doctor.

Tone · The narrator tells Kino’s story to teach a moral lesson, and so treats Kino above
all as a cautionary figure. At the same time, however, the narrator seems to see Kino as a
sort of tragic hero, and is moved by the human weakness Kino’s actions reveal. The
narrator often shows a certain respect for Kino’s striving to realize his ambitions—even
while recognizing the mistakes Kino makes and mourning his ultimate moral downfall.

Setting (Time) · Unclear, possibly late nineteenth or early twentieth century

Setting (Place) · A Mexican coastal village called La Paz, probably on the Baja Peninsula
Protagonist · Kino

Major Conflict · After finding a magnificent pearl, Kino seeks to sell it to acquire wealth.
He wishes for his son’s wound to heal, and for his son to obtain an education and become
an equal to the European colonists who keep his people in a state of ignorance and
poverty. When he tries to sell the pearl, however, Kino quickly meets resistance in the
form of other people’s greed. Ultimately, his struggle to acquire wealth places him at
odds with his family, his culture, and nature, as Kino himself succumbs to greed and
violence.

Rising Action · A scorpion stings Coyotito; Kino discovers a great pearl; Kino’s attempts
to sell the pearl are unsuccessful, and he is mysteriously attacked; Kino beats Juana for
attempting to discard the pearl.

Climax · Kino kills a man who attacks him for his pearl, an event that exposes the
tension surrounding this object as a bringer of great evil as well as a chance for salvation.
Falling Action · Kino and Juana flee the village and find themselves chased by trackers;
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Kino fights with the trackers, not knowing that they have taken Coyotito’s cry to be that
of a coyote and shot him; Kino and Juana return to the village and throw the pearl back
into the sea.

Motifs · Nature imagery, Kino’s songs

Symbols · The pearl, the scorpion, Kino’s canoe

Foreshadowing · Coyotito’s name; the discussion of “The Pearl That Might Be”; Juana’s
prayer for Kino to find a great pearl; Juana and Juan Tomás’s warnings to Kino that the
pearl is dangerous.
Songs mentioned in the Pearl.
☆Song of the family and its variations
☆The song of the evil
☆The song of the undersea
☆The song of Pearl that might be
☆The song of enemy

MAIN CAHRACTERS IN THE PEARL

(1)Kino:
-The protagonist of the novell (Novel). He is a simple man who lives in a brush house

with his wife, Juana and their son, Coyotito, both of whom he loves very much.
-He is a young Mexican, Indian man who is satisfied with his life up until he discovers

the Pearl.
-His discovery of the Pearl, the people around him lead him to lose his most precious

objects such as canoe and house including his son.

(2)Juana
-She is Kino’s wife. She shows submission and fierce will in the face of threats to her

family.
-When issues surrounding them twist she senses danger and advise her husband to

through the Pearl back into the sea. She describes the Pearl as evil.

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-True to her words the family has suffered and lost valuable possessions and in the end

Kino takes her advice and throw back the Pearl into the sea.
(3)Coyotito
-Kino and Juana’s only son, who is stung by a scorpion while resting in a hammock

one morning
-Because Coyotito is an infant, he is helpless to improve his situation and thus at the

mercy of those who provide for him.

-Kino and Juana’s efforts to save him by finding a big pearl with which they can pay a

doctor prove to be more harm than good.

(4)Juan Tomas
-Kino’s older brother
-Deeply loyal to his family
-Juan Tomas supports Kino in all of his endeavors but warns him of the dangers

involved in possessing such a valuable Pearl.

(5)Apolonia
-Juana’s Tomas wife and the mother of four children.
-Like her husband, Apolonia is sympathetic to Kino and Juana ’s plight and she agrees

to give them shelter in their time of need.

(6)The Doctor
-He is corrupted by greed and racism.
-He prefers to treat the rich only to the poor, his charges are too far to the normal.
-The doctor initially refuses to treat Coyotito but changes his mind after learning that

Kino has found a great Pearl.

-He represents the arrogance, condescension, and greed at the heart of colonial society.
(7)THE PRIEST
-The local priest (Village priest)
-As a priest, represents moral virtues and goodness but he is just interested in

exploiting Kino’s wealth as everyone else.

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-He hopes of finding a way to persuade Kino to give him some of the money he will

make from the Pearl.

(8)THE TRACKERS
-The group of violent and corrupt men that follows Kino and Juana when they leave

the village, hoping to steal Kino’s Pearl.

(9)THE PEARL BUYER/THE BUYER
-The extremely well-organized and corrupt pearl dealers in La Paz. Systematically
cheat and exploit the Indian pearl divers who sell them their goods. They desperately
long to cheat Kino out of his pearl.
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CHAPTER ONE SUMMARY

SETTINGS: The events in the first chapter are set in the rural area
JUSTIFICATION: This is shown by Kino’s family and others living in brush houses,

keeping roosters and pigs.

PLOT
☆The story starts off with Kino waking in the dark of very early morning.
☆There are roosters and pigs outside, and he lives in a brush house, so we know we’re
dealing with someplace rural.
☆Kino looks over at Juana, his wife, and his son Coyotito who is sleeping in a hanging
box.
Juana is awake, as per usual. She never sleeps while Kino is awake.
☆He closes his eyes and listens to the sound (he calls it a "song") of the waves on the
beach outside (more setting clues).
☆Actually, he calls it "the Song of the Family," since he knows his people have been
hearing it for many generations back (he’s a native).
☆Juana gets up and goes to check on their son and makes corncakes on a grinding stone
while ☆Kino heads outside and watches the dawn.
☆As a dog curls up near Kino, we are told that "It was a morning like other mornings and
yet perfect among mornings."
☆He listens to his wife singing and thinks that too is part of the family song; that it is
warm and safe and whole.
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☆Kino and his wife have breakfast together without talking; not because there’s latent
hostility or dissatisfaction; rather, they don’t need speech to communicate.
☆And then… something happens. Both Kino and Juana see a scorpion on the hanging
cradle and freeze in place.
☆Kino then "hears" another "song," this time "the Song of Evil."
☆Juana mumbles protective chants under her breath.
☆Kino, meanwhile, decides that action would be better than no action. He moves silently
across the room and reaches his hand ever-so-gently toward the scorpion.
☆The scorpion, being a creature of acutely sensitive hearing, raises its very poisonous
tail in caution.
☆Then, Coyotito, being a baby who has absolutely no idea what’s going on, shakes the
cradle, dropping the scorpion inside.
☆Kino grabs the creature and mashes it to a paste, but not before it strikes Coyotito.
☆Juana takes the screaming baby and tries to suck out the poison; Kino feels helpless.
☆Meanwhile the screaming alerts the neighbors, Juan Tomás and "his fat wife Apolonia"
and their four children.
☆Everyone realizes the baby may die.
☆Kino takes a moment to marvel at how strong his wife is, since she can withstand pain
and starvation as well (or better) than any man. At the moment, though, she tells him to
go get a doctor.
☆The spectators all whisper about how the doctor will never come out here to the poor
people and their brush houses, since he attends to the rich folk in the plaster abodes in
town.
☆Juana, afraid they are right, decides that they should go to the doctor instead. The
spectators follow.
☆The people in town add to the mix, so now the poor trio has a grand following as they
make their way to the doctor’s house.
☆The beggars in particular watch the scene; they know everything, the narration tells
us, since they watch the townspeople going into confession and can read their sins on
their faces.
☆The beggars also know how cruel the doctor is, which doesn’t bode well for the sick
baby.
☆Kino hesitates, reflecting that the doctor’s race has been robbing and despising his
own race for hundreds of years. He tries to control his anger at such unfair treatment
while knocking on the door.
☆When a servant opens the gate, Kino delivers the news "in the old language." The
servant, however, refuses to answer in the same dialect.
☆We cut to the doctor, who is appropriately sitting in bed in his gown of "red watered
silk that had come from Paris" and drinking from a cup of eggshell china in a silver tray.
☆And he has religious paintings around his room.
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☆When the servant comes in with the news of a "little Indian baby" stung by a scorpion,
the doctor responds that he’s not a veterinary and therefore doesn’t cure Indians. Ugh,
what a racist.
☆But he does ask if they have any money.
☆The servant goes back to inquire about the cash situation; Kino pulls out eight small,
misshapen pearls that are "nearly valueless."
☆The servant takes the pearls, goes inside, returns and gives them back, and reports that
the doctor is out, which isn’t even a good lie.
☆The crowd feels the wave of shame passing over Kino and leaves; Kino stands at the
gate long after until, in anger, he strikes it with his fist and splits his knuckles open.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS
(1)KINO
Violent Temper
- He reacts violently to the scorpion which bites the son.
- When the doctor refuses to treat Coyotito he gets angry and punches the gates.
Loving
- He loves his wife and child
Superstitious
- Believes in the songs of the family and evil
(2)JUANA
Caring and Dutiful
- She works up in the morning and takes care of Kino and child.
Religious and Pragmatic
- When Coyotito is attacked by Scorpion she says prayers for protection and calls for

the doctor.
(3)DOCTOR
Racists
-He does not want to treat Indians. To him Indians are animals.
Selfish
- He does not come out to hear Kino’s problem.

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Greedy / Money Hungry
- He wants to help Kino on one condition, if he has enough money.
THEMES IN CHAPTER ONE
Racism
- This sis shown by the doctor who does not want to assist the Indians.
Superstition
- Kino believes in family and evil song.
- He believes the scorpion as the symbol of evil.
Selfishness
- This is shown by the doctor who does not want to assist Indians.
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CHAPTER TWO SUMMARY
SETTING
- The events happen in two near the beach of an estuary at the rural area
JUSTIFICATION
- The presence of Canoe that are seen coming from Nayarit and the presence of wild

pigs and dogs roaming the beach looking for food.

PLOT
☆Now that we’ve met the people and started the storyline, Steinbeck figures he’ll tell us
where all this is taking place.
☆The town is located on the beach of an estuary; canoes can be seen coming in from
Nayarit, which means we’re in Mexico and probably near the tip of the Baja Peninsula.
☆Once again we see the area isn’t too densely populated, since wild pigs and dogs roam
the beach looking for food.
☆It’s also very dreamlike, the narration tells us explicitly. (Just picture the "copper haze"
over the water and the blinding reflection of the sun—this, we are told, is why the
townspeople feel there is no certainty in seeing.)
☆Kino and Juana make their way with Coyotito down to Kino’s canoe, which is "the one
thing of value he owned in the world." It’s old and once belonged to Kino’s grandfather.
☆Meanwhile, Coyotito is getting worse; the swelling from the sting has moved up from
his shoulder and toward his face. Juana puts a poultice of seaweed over the wound,
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which is "probably better than the doctor could have done."
☆Juana prays silently that Kino will find a pearl in the water big enough to pay a doctor.
Once in the canoe, Kino paddles them out amongst the other pearlers already in the
water.
☆The oyster bed below them is littered with cracked, opened shells, the pearls of which
once made the King of Spain wealthy.
☆Pearls, we are told, are made when a grain of sand irritates the inside of the oyster; the
oyster simply coats the foreign body with layer after layer, which over time builds up a
pearl. Finding one is an accident, simply good luck from God.
☆Kino dives to the bottom with the help of a heavy rock. Once at the water’s bottom, he
fills a basket with unopened oysters and while he works hears another song, this time
"The Song of the Pearl That Might Be."
☆Kino is skilled and can stay under water for two minutes, expertly choosing the best
oysters.
☆And then… he sees one huge oyster, slightly opened, alone on an overhang. The oyster
is opened ever-so-slightly, and Kino sees something gleam inside it.
☆Grabbing this shell and his basket, Kino kicks for the surface.
☆Juana senses his excitement and so looks away; expecting too much might drive away
the luck.
☆Kino doesn’t want to start with the big Papa Bear Oyster, but after opening one pithy
pair of shells with his knife he looks at it again.
☆Now he starts to doubt; maybe he only saw the gleam of the shell’s iridescent interior;
after all, "in this gulf of uncertain light there were more illusions than realities."
☆Juana tells Kino, in her own gentle way, to open the big oyster already.
☆Kino does, and in case the cover of your book or the blurb on the back hasn’t already
informed you, inside is the greatest pearl ever, the supermodel of all pearls, the big
cheese, the pearl we’ve all been waiting for. It’s as big as a sea-gull’s egg.
☆Juana draws Kino’s attention to Coyotito; the swelling has gone down and it looks like
the poison is leaving his body.
☆Kino howls emotionally, which leads to all the other canoers paddling over to his boat.
Probably not the greatest move when you’ve got the world’s most valuable pearl in your
hand.

Symbolism
- The Pearl in this chapter symbolises human kind underlying greed and selfishness
CHARACTERIZATION
(1)KINO
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Responsible
- He tries to source a pearl that can be sold for his son’s treatment
Courageous and Strong
- He is able to gather Oyster under water for a full two minutes.
Overexcited / Extravert
- Shows his excitement upon discovering the valuable Pearl. This has attracted other

to his boat.
Skillful
- He is well known expert, h stays and at f t full minutes looking f the best Oyster.
(2)JUANA
Creative
- Puts poultrice of sea weed over the wound and the swelling has gone down.
Religious
-:Prays silently for Kino’s success in the ocean.
Calm
- When Kino gets the valuable pearl deliberately looks away because she holds belief

that much expectation drives lucky away.

THEMES
Responsibility
- Kino tries to source a Pearl that can be sold for his son’s treatment
Courage
- Kino is able to gather Oyester under water for two full minutes
Excitement
- Kino becomes over excited upon discovering the valuable Pearl.
Religious Believe
- Juana believe God, that is why she prays for Kino for success in the ocean.
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CHAPTER THREE SUMMARY

SETTING
- The chapter has two settings, rural and urban.
JUSTIFICATION
- It is rural area because of the presence of Kino’s brush house.
- It is in urban area because of the presence of doctor, the town, Pearl year and

shopkeeper
PLOT
☆News about Kino’s pearl travels fast across town.

☆Unfortunately, everyone is self-serving: the priest hears about the pearl and thinks

about repairs needed for the church, the shopkeepers think about the clothes they could

sell to Kino, etc.

☆Then the doctor realizes Kino was the guy from earlier, and he thinks about Paris and

fine dining.

☆Then we cut to the pearl-buying offices. This is where all the "agents" sit around and

haggle a man into taking the lowest possible prices for his pearls.

☆Even more depressing, these miserable scrooges are only buying the pearls on behalf

of other (richer) folk.

☆Kino, we are told, becomes everyone’s enemy. Each person sees what the pearl could

do for him, and Kino becomes the only man standing in their way.

☆But Kino and Juana are happily oblivious. They sit at home with Kino’s brother Juan

and his wife ☆Apolonia; Kino talks about what he will do once he becomes a rich man.

☆He decides he wants to get married to his wife—officially and in the church, now that

they can pay for it. He looks into the pearl and sees a vision of them at the altar, dressed

all spiffy.

☆Then he says he wants a rifle.

☆Kino continues: his son Coyotito will go to school.

☆But then he gets scared at his own talking, seeming to doubt the real capabilities of this
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magical pearl.

☆The priest comes to visit, but he’s super-condescending because he considers the

natives to be children.

☆He flatters Kino and puts in his two cents about how they should donate money to the

church.

☆Juana receives his words kindly, and the priest leaves.

☆Kino is distracted by the evil song, which is competing with the song of the pearl.

☆Once all the spectators have gone back to their homes for the night, Kino sits around

and realizes that many are plotting against him.

☆He decides to counter-plot.

☆While he’s busy doing that, two men with lanterns approach his home: the doctor and

his servant.

☆The doctor says he was out earlier, but now he’s come to look at the baby.

☆Kino tells him the baby is better, but the doctor counters that sometimes scorpion

stings seem to get better when really they’re getting worse.

☆The doctor takes a look at Coyotito and is all, "Hmm! Hurmph! Well!" and says the

poison is holed-up on the inside with blueprints and planning a second attack just as

soon as it gets its beauty rest.

☆He then gives Coyotito a mysterious capsule, which we speculate contains poison.

☆The doctor goes outside, and Kino wraps up and hides the pearl. Good call, buddy.

Sure enough, the baby gets sick. Juana says "the doctor knew," but Kino is suspicious,

mostly because of the evil song he’s hearing.

☆The doctor then gives Coyotito something else (antidote), packs up his bags, and asks

when Kino will be able to pay the bill.

☆Kino is all, "As soon as I sell my pearl," and the doctor is all, "Ooh, you have a pearl?

Really? Tell me more about this mysterious object that, before this very moment, I have

not heard mention of whatsoever. Also, I’ll "hold" it for you in my "safe."

☆Kino passes on the offer, but not-so-intelligently lets his eyes travel to the place in the
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hut where the pearl is hidden.

☆Everyone leaves. Kino hears more evil music, so he moves the pearl to a hole he’s dug

under his sleeping mat.

☆Juana asks who he is afraid of, and Kino answers, "Everyone."

☆They all go to sleep until Kino awakens with the song of evil pulsing through him.

☆What follows is a scuffle in the dark with at least one intruder: Kino gets smashed on

the head, but chases off the bad guy.

☆As Juana nurses his injury, she declares that the pearl is a sin, that it’s evil, and that it

will destroy them if they don’t throw it back into the ocean.

☆Kino, who is busy oscillating between fear and rage, doesn’t listen.

☆The next morning, Kino digs up the pearl and stares at its beauty while listening to its

song.

☆He feels hopeful again—today is the day he will sell the pearl.

CHARACTERIZATION
(1)PRIEST
Selfish
- Thinks of his church and not the life of Kino and his family.
Greedy
- He becomes ambitious with Kino’s money after he will sell the Pearl.
(2)SHOPKEEPER
Selfish
- He thinks of clothes he will sell to Kino and the money he may get.
Greedy:
- He thinks of doing better for himself.
(3)DOCTOR:
Wicked
- Give baby poison capsule
Pretentious
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- Pretends that he has been away when Kino came to his house
Greedy
- He wants to assist Kino after hearing that he will be rich because of his pearl
(4)PEARL BUYERS
Cheats
- They would like to buy the pearl at the lowest price.
Selfish
- Wants to buy the Pearl at the lowest price at the expense of the poor Kino.
(5)JUANA
Caring
-;Nurses Kino’s injury.
Cautious and sensitive
- Warns Kino the effects of the peal to their family.
(6)KINO
Cautious/ Protective
- Hides the pearl
Suspicious
- sees everyone as his enemy
Optimistic
- Hopes the pearl shall make the family rich
Open
- he tells people what he can do if he gets rich
Revengeful
- Count plots against his enemies

THEMES
Selfishness
- The priest does not think of the life of Kino but the church.

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- The buyers do not think of the welfare off Kino but they think of making profits by

buying Kino’s pearl at lower price.

- The doctor is also selfish because he does not want to assist Kino only when he hears

that Kino has got a Pearl and he will have money.

Cheating
-:The buyer wants to cheat Kino by buying his pearl at the lower price.
Suspicious
- Kino sees that everyone is his enemy because of his pearl.
Revenge
-:Kino count plots against his enemies.
Optimistic
- Kino hopes the Pearl shall make the family rich.
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CHAPTER FOUR SUMMARY
SETTING
- The event take place in urban area
JUSTIFICATION
- The mentioning of the town called La Paz Baja peninsula in Mexico.
PLOT
☆The name of the town is La Paz, which is indeed on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

☆La Paz is a gossip-ridden town. As such, everyone and their mother knows that Kino is

going to sell his pearl today.

☆It used to be, we are told, that the pearl buyers would try to outbid one another to buy a

pearl. ☆But this form of self-regulating, free-market capitalism proved too costly for the

merchants; so now they collude and agree on a price beforehand that is far below the pearl’s

actual value.

☆None of the pearl-divers are even going out diving today since there’s too much excitement
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to be had on land (namely, watching Kino sell his pearl).

☆All the spectators stand around and talk about the things they would do if they had found

the pearl, like buy world peace.

☆Juana dresses herself and Coyotito in their finest clothes (from her marriage and his

baptism), and she and Kino lead the procession into town.

☆Juan cautions his brother not to get cheated by the pearl-buyers.

☆He then reminds Kino of a story their father told them when they were young: the locals,

realizing that the agents wouldn’t give them fair prices, pooled their pearls and sent them all

with one man to the capital, to sell in a larger and presumably more just market. The man

disappeared. They tried it again, same deal. So they were stuck getting cheated by the resident

pearl-buyers.

☆Kino knows that trying to sell the pearls elsewhere went against religion; apparently the

priests in the area have convinced them that every man has a station in life, and trying to

move away from that station is evil.

☆At the agents’ offices, a man sits waiting at a desk, dressed for business and mechanically

twirling a coin in between the knuckles of his fingers.

☆When Kino arrives and declares he has a pearl to sell, the buyer continues to twirl the coin

in his hand—but hidden under the desk.

☆Kino slowly unwraps the pearl and looks the buyer’s eyes for a reaction, but he sees none.

☆The coin, however, slips from the buyer’s hand and falls silently into his lap.

☆The buyer pokes at the pearl and calls it "clumsy" for being too large.

☆Finally, he offers a thousand pesos. Kino counters that it’s worth fifty thousand.

☆The dealer is fearful, but he hides it and tells Kino to go ask the other dealers independently

(since they’re all working together to keep the offers very low).

☆The next guy offers six hundred, so Kino snatches his pearl back and declares he will go

sell it in the capital.

☆As he storms out, one of the dealers calls that he could do fifteen hundred pesos, but Kino is

having none of it.

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☆The dealers share a collective, "Drat!" and go back to playing with their coins. The crowd,

meanwhile, wonders if maybe Kino is being greedy. After all, fifteen hundred pesos is a lot of

money for a poor man, they say.

☆Kino goes home, buries the pearl, and feels afraid. He’s hesitant to take the journey to the

capital because he’s never been away from home before, and he doesn’t know anything about

different lands.

☆His brother Juan comes to visit. Kino declares the buyers are cheats, and Juan affirms that

they have been cheated all their lives. He is worried for Kino’s safety, and leaves him with

"Go with God."

☆Kino then sits around and worries for a bit. Juana knows there’s nothing she can do but

comfort him with her presence.

☆She then fights the song of evil with the song of family.

☆As the night grows darker, Kino gets more and more paranoid that something is outside

waiting to attack. He goes to the doorway, and when Juana follows she finds him on the

ground bleeding from the head—there is a long gash from his ear to his chin.

☆Once again, Juana tells her husband that the pearl is evil and they must get rid of it.

☆He argues and concludes with (no joke): "Believe me, I am a man."

☆Kino plans for them to leave tomorrow in their canoe for the capital.

☆Then they go to sleep.

CHARACTERIZATION
(1)PEARL BUYERS
Cheats
- They offer Kino lowest price
Cooperative / United
- They meet in advance and agree on a price that is far below the actual price
Greedy
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- Wants to make more profits at the expense of the poor.
(2)PEARL DIVERS
Narrow minded
- They have not gone to work just because they want to see Kino selling his pearl.
(3)KINO
Optimistic
- He hopes to sell his pearl at the fair price to meet his dreams
Superstitious
- Holds the belief that selling the pearl elsewhere is against religion
- He believes that everyone is against him
Resolute/ consistent
- He stand on his belief and his plan; he does not allow to sell his pearl at lowest price
Courageous
- Although he has been attached, he continues with his plan of selling the Pearl to the

town.
(4)JUAN TOMAS
Mindful /cautions
- He cautions/reminds Kino not to be cheated by the pearl buyers.
Sensitive
-:Sensed danger on Kino. He feels that Kino has no safety because of his pearl.
Loving
- He cautions his brother not to get cheated by the pearl buyers
(5)JUANA
Understanding
- She cares more about Kino and comforts him with her presence
- When Kino gets attached she nurses him
Superstitious
- She believe that the pearl is evil

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THEMES
Cheating
- Pearl buyers meet before the pearls sellers have come to make the price so they can

cheat the seller

Unity/Cooperation
- In unity the pearl buyers they gather and agree the pearl sellers to avoid out of each

other.
Observation
- Other pearl sellers observed how the buyers buy the pearls, they kept their pearls and

sell to other buyers

Optimism
-:Kino hopes to sell his pearl at the fair price to meet his dreams
Superstitious
- Juana believes that the pearl is evil.
- Kino believes that selling the pearl elsewhere is against religion.
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CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY
SETTING
- The events take place in rural area at night.
Justification
- The presence of the word village and the beach.
PLOT
☆Kino opens his eyes in the darkness to see Juana gliding about like a shadow. He

watches her silently leave their hut and follows her out to the beach in a rage.

☆Kino manages to stop her just as she is about to throw the pearl into the water. He
wrestles it back, strikes her in the face, and kicks her once she’s fallen to the ground.
☆Juana is terrified and, looking at Kino, knows that he is capable of murder.
☆As Kino makes his way back to the hut, a figure attacks him. He stabs the figure with

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his knife while the pearl is knocked onto the ground.
☆Juana, meanwhile, isn’t angry at her husband. She knows he is a man, which means he
is "half insane and half god," which means he will struggle against mountains and oceans
even though he’s out of his weight division, so to speak.
☆Her job, she knows, is to be a woman, which means "reason," "caution," and
"preservation."
☆Juana picks herself up off the ground and retrieves the pearl. Holding it in her hands,
she wonders whether she should go back and finish the job (i.e., throw it back into the
ocean).
☆But then she sees two figures in the darkness, Kino, moving sluggishly, and a second
man who is bleeding from the throat.
☆Then she decides it would be useless to throw the pearl away; now that Kino has killed
a man, she can never retrieve the peace they all had before the pearl came into their
lives.
☆When the couple makes it back home, Kino rants about how he lost the pearl until
Juana tells him she retrieved it and he should stop whining because they need to skip
town before he’s convicted of murder.
☆When they get to the canoe, he sees that someone has knocked a hole in the bottom.
Kino is in a rage; this is worse than killing a man, he thinks, because a boat cannot heal
or protect itself.
☆Kino becomes an animal; his only thoughts are for survival and protection.
☆He runs back to his house only to see that someone has lit it on fire.
☆He takes Juana and Coyotito and runs to his brother’s nearby house, where Apolonia is
busy grieving, thinking they’re dead.
☆She stops grieving.
☆Because Juan is the older brother, he takes authority; he tells Kino that the pearl is evil
and that he will hide him for the day (dawn is breaking) before his (Kino’s) journey the
next evening to the North.
☆The next night, after darkness has fallen, Juan asks if Kino is willing to destroy the
pearl.
☆Kino declares that the pearl has become his soul.

CHARACTERIZATION
(1)KINO
Short tampered
- The way had handled his wife when she is about to throw the Pearl back into the

ocean.

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Strong
- He defeats two men intending to attack him.
Stubborn
- He does not listen his brother and wife to throw the Pearl back into the ocean.
(2)JUANA
Forgiving
- She does not divorce her husband Kino for beating her.
Cautious
- Cautious her husband to escape to the capital before he convicted of murder.
(3)APOLONIA
Loving
- She sympathizes with Kino and here house because of the burning of their house.
Sympathetic
- She grieves of the burning of the house of Kino and Juana.
(4)JUAN
Cautious
- Cautions Kino to leave to the North the following evening for his family to be

protected because the pearl they possess is evil.

Sympathetic
- He sympathizes with Kino and his family in every unfortunate situation.

THEMES
Courage
- Kino defeats two men intending to attack him
Sympathy
- Juan and his wife Apolonia sympathizes with Kino in every unfortunate situation.
Anger
- This is portrayed in the way Kino handled his wife when she is about to throw the

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Pearl back into the sea.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------
CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY
Setting
- The events taken in urban area and on the way to the North towards Lereto, another town on Baja

Peninsula

Justification
- The presence of the word town and capital
PLOT
☆Kino and Juana travel with Coyotito north toward Lareto (another town on the Baja
Peninsula).
☆We learn some more insight into Kino: he gets in touch with his ancestors while
watching the stars and the wilderness.
☆They find the road, and Kino travels with the music of the pearl and the music of family
intermingling in his mind.
☆When they stop to hide and rest on the side of the road during daylight, he brushes
away their footprints.
☆Kino gives Juana a bunch of advice on what kind of trees to avoid and what is bad luck,
etc. She already knows all of this, but she humors him anyway.
☆Juana suggests that maybe the dealers were right, maybe the pearl is valueless and this
has all "been an illusion."
☆Kino counters that, if this were true, everyone wouldn’t be trying to steal it.
☆He then decides to comfort himself by looking into the pearl and imagining all the
things he can buy with his wealth. He speaks of a rifle, but all he can see is the nameless,
murdered man on the ground. He speaks of getting married in a church, but all he can
see in the reflection of the pearl is Juana lying beaten on the ground.
☆The music of the pearl grows sinister, so Kino puts it back in his pocket.
☆They go to sleep (it’s still daylight) and Kino wakes from a horrible nightmare, sensing
that something is wrong. He tells his wife to keep Coyotito quiet.
☆Through the bushes he watches a group of trackers go by. These are dangerous men
with sharp senses—so it’s bad news for any folk that might be hiding in the underbrush
with the world’s most valuable pearl.
☆Kino sneaks to the edge of the road, draws his knife and gets ready to attack if he needs
to.

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Coyotito starts making noises, so Juana suckles him to keep him quiet.
☆Nervous and preparing for flight, Kino hurries back to Juana. He tells her they are
trackers and wonders whether he should give up himself to save his family.
☆But then he declares they will go try to hide themselves in the mountains. Panicked, he
doesn’t even bother to hide their tracks as they move.
☆The terrain as they travel to higher ground is desert, with cacti and little water and
broken rock underfoot.
☆Kino hears the music of evil again.
☆When they get higher, they stop to rest. Kino looks behind him but can’t see any sign of
the trackers.
☆Kino decides that Juana and Coyotito should hide while he goes North to sell the pearl.
☆But Juana resolutely refuses. So that’s that. They keep moving up the mountains, but
this time they’re not as panicked.
☆Kino leaves decoy footprints as they go so as to lead the trackers off in the wrong
direction.
At last, Kino and Juana find water in pool fed by a little stream.
☆Everything is fantastic until Kino looks down the slope and sees the trackers
approaching; he judges that they will get to the pool by evening.
☆Spotting some shallow caves, Kino decides they should hide out. He warns Juana that
she must not let Coyotito cry out.
☆That night, the trackers camp out by the pool and build a fire. Leaving Juana in the cave
with the baby, Kino decides to be confrontational. He takes off his white clothes, since his
dark skin is better camouflage.
☆As she watches her husband go, Juana whispers prayers and incantations of protection.
☆Kino slides toward the trackers in the darkness, listening to the Song of the Family and
the music of the enemy.
☆Just when he is about to attack, the moon rises. There’s too much light, so Kino holds
himself back.
☆Then… Coyotito cries out. The trackers think it is just a coyote with her pups, and one
of them declares that, if it is, this ought to silence him.
☆He then raises his gun in the direction of Juana and Coyotito; Kino leaps up and stabs
his knife into the man’s neck just as the gun goes off.
☆Kino goes nuts on the three men, managing to stab two, steal the rifle, and shoot the
other man between the eyes.
☆Just as he’s reveling in his victory, though, he hears "the cry of death" coming from the
cave.
☆There’s a break in the page and, while we don’t start a new chapter, we definitely pull
out of this story. The narration begins to speak of the town of La Paz, and how everyone
in it remembers the return of the family.
☆Then we get to see the return. Kino and Juana return side-by-side, which is unusual
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since she usually follows behind him. (Because she’s a woman.)
☆Kino carries a rifle, and Juana carries a limp, unmoving, bloody bundle in her shawl.
☆According to what the villagers say, the couple seems "removed from human
experience." They had experienced pain and are now protected by some sort of magic.
☆Kino, meanwhile, hears the "Song of the Family," which has become for him a battle cry.
☆Kino walks to the water’s edge, past his destroyed canoe. He takes out the pearl and
looks into it, and sees in it evil faces. He sees one of the dead trackers and Coyotito’s
body "with the top of his head shot away."
☆The pearl now looks horrible and ugly to him, like a cancerous growth. The pearl’s
music is now distorted, different than before.
☆He tries to hand it over to Juana, but she says, "No, you."
☆So Kino flings the pearl with all his might into the ocean. It falls to the bottom and is
covered by a cloud of sand.
☆The music of the pearl disappears.

CHARACTERIZATION
(1)KINO
Suspicious
- He brushes away their foot prints so he cannot be traced by people.
Courageous and strong
- Manages to kill the trackers
Optimistic
- Believes that he will do a lot when he sells his pearl
(2)JUANA
Decisive
- She does not allow to remain behind as Kino goes alone to sell a Pearl in the city
Superstitious
- She refuses to handle a pearl when Kino gives her, she believes that it is evil.
Caring and Loving
- She carries her dead baby back home
(3)TRACKERS
Greedy

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- Attacks Kino because of the pearl he wants to sell in town
Evil Minded
- Want to eliminate Kino and his family because of the Pearl
THEMES
Suspicion
- Kino does not believe anyone. He thinks everyone is his enemy, hence brushes his

finger prints in the road not to be traced by anybody.

Greed
- Trackers follow Kino all because of the greedy for the pearl, because they know will

get money.
Religion and Faith
- Juana prays before taking a hide in the cave.
Superstition
- Kino believes in the song of the family and the Pearl.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
MAJOR THEMES IN THE PEARL
(1)OBSESSION
-Kino dives for pearls in attempt to find one with great value
-He would like to pay the doctor for Coyotito’s treatment after being stung by a

Scorpion. He gets one valuable Pearl.

-Kino considers the pearl as a fulfillment of his dreams for the family. He will acquire

new clothes, conduct church wedding with his wife Juana, buy a riffle for himself and

pay education expenses for Coyotito.

-Kino kills a ma when he is attacked in self-defense.
-Kino savagely beats his wife up when she tries to throw Pearl back into the sea.
-Kino clings to the pearl until their baby dies. His house is burned, Canoe destroyed.
-Kino claims that the pearl has become his soul.
-On the way to the capital he kills three men following them for the pearl.
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-All this is a sign of obsession
(2)GREED
-The news of Kino’s pearl has stirred up evil intention from various people. Greed is

evil and has infected both the rich and the poor.
-The doctors, merchants, priest and beggars all think of the pearl in monetary terms.
-Greed makes people in town to conduct acts of violence against Kino is attempting to

still the pearl. Blood is shed.

(3)CORRUPTION
-Corruption has fueled greed. Thus is seen in the lives of individuals and the society at

large.
-The doctor is corrupted by his love of money and fine possession in silk robe. He sits

in his beautiful house sipping chocolate from a China cup while he refuses to treat

Coyotito, who has been stung by a scorpion. He does this because the baby is an

Indian and he says he not a veterinary. He later gives a hand to Kino’s pearl.
(4)RELIGION
-Religion is portrayed negatively in the Novel. The priest who is supposed to be a

strong pillar and a role model seems corrupt and self-serving.

-Kino’s life has fallen apart even though he is a religious man. Juana has been offering

a protection prayer but little seems to have taken place.

-Based on this religion in the story is not something to be trusted and counted on. It

leads to disappointment.
(5)PRICE OF WISDOM
-Juana seems to have the understanding of the impact of clinging to the pearl. She says

“It will destroy us all”and even our son.

-This has come to pass because their house is burnt, Kino’s canoe smashed and their

son Coyotito shot dead.

-Juana Tomas too tries to save them from destruction. He says “there is a devil in the

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pearl”. He advices Kino to sell it or throw it back into the ocean in order to pass on the

devil.
-Juan believes that if Kino sells the Pearl he will buy a peace for himself but Kino

refuses. He clings to it.

-Kino beat his wife for trying to throw the pearl back into the ocean. In the end Kino

has come to believe that both Juana and Juan were right.
-Kino personally returns the pearl to the sea after the death of his son, his house burnt

and Cone smashed.

-This is a terrible price to pay for Kino’s acquiring wisdom.
(6)IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY
-The family is indicated as the only institution where one can find warmth. -When

Kino seems to be troubled he finds warmth from his wife Juana.

-Juana gives warmth to Kino in the following ways: by her presence to him, she nurses

Kino’s wound when he gets attached.

-Kino says when he gets rich, will marry his wife Juan through the church. All this

because he is satisfied.
-Kino is accompanied by his family to the market to sell the pearl with high

expectations.
-Juana and Coyotito seem to enjoy Kino’s protection as family head.
-Juana, Kino’s brother and his wife sympathizes what Kino pass through. He advices

Kino that he should not be cheated by the pearl buyers, when Kino’s house is burnt, he

offers him accommodation.

-The family song Kino hears also symbolizes the significance of the family. -All in all

Kino enjoys the warmth and this shows that the family is the very important institution

ever.
(7)WEALTH
-The story shows that wealth has both advantages and disadvantages. He goodness is

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that it brings joy and one is able to meet needs and fulfill family needs (obligations)
-Kino feels that once he gets rich will be able to marry his wife through church and

send his son to school.

-On the other hand wealth has challenges, for example; Kino has become center of

attraction. Various people plot to attack him and his family and get away with the

pearl.
-Almost everybody wants to cheat Kino in order to get his pearl.
-In the end his house is burnt to ashes, Canoe smashed and his son Coyotito is shot

dead all because of the Pearl.

-Wealth brings both happiness and insecurity. To addition insecurity perhaps that ’s

why Kino says one of the item he will buy when he get rich is a rifle.
(8)GOOD VERSUS EVIL
-Family is good. It brings warmth and comfort one needs in difficult times.
-Greed is evil. It makes people envious and filled with self-serving spirit. For example

the priest who thinks of church repair and the doctor who needs Paris and furniture.
-Love is good. It brings consolation of the mind is the best medicine in hard times. For

instance Kino beats up his wife because of the pearl, but in the end they reconcile

because of the love.

(9)GENDER
-Kino by virtue of being the man he becomes family head and Jun respects all

decisions made by Kino there good or bad. The same applies to Juan over Apolonia.
-Kino is ultimate speaker of the family and everyone should bow down to him.
(10)PREMITIVE
-The pearl has changed the man form civilized and to primitive one. He is scared and a

protective beast. He declares that everyone is his enemy and is afraid of everyone.
-When Kino’s wife takes the pearl without his knowledge to throw it back into the sea

(ocean) he savagely beast her up.

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-Kino goes further by killing a man who wants to attack him for his pearl. He cuts him

on the throat.
-Finally Kino kills the trackers just to protect his pearl.

(11)GREED AS A DEATRUCTIVE FORCE

- As Kino seeks to gain wealth and status through the pearl, he transforms from a happy,
contented father to a savage criminal, demonstrating the way ambition and greed
destroy innocence.
- Kino’s desire to acquire wealth perverts the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck,
transforming it from a symbol of hope to a symbol of human destruction.
- Furthermore, Kino’s greed leads him to behave violently toward his wife; it also leads to
his son’s death and ultimately to Kino’s detachment from his cultural tradition and his
society.
-Kino’s people seem poised for a similar destruction, as the materialism inherent in
colonial capitalism implants a love of profit into the simple piety of the native people.

12)THE ROLE OF FATE & AGENCY IN SHAPING HUMAN LIFE

The Pearl portrays two contrasting forces that shape human life and determine
individual destiny.
- The novella depicts a world in which, for the most part, humans shape their own
destinies.
- They provide for themselves, follow their own desires, and make their own plans.
- At the same time, forces beyond human control, such as chance, accident, and the gods,
can sweep in at any moment and, for good or ill, completely change the course of an
individual’s life. - If fate is best represented in the novella by the open sea where pearl
divers plunge beneath the waves hoping for divine blessings, human agency is best
represented by the village of La Paz, where myriad human desires, plans, and motives
come together to form civilization.
- Kino and Juana’s lives change irreparably the moment the scorpion, a symbol of
malignant fate, bites their child.
- Their lives then change irreparably again the moment Kino finds the pearl, a symbol of
beneficent fate.
- Nevertheless, it is not fate but human agency, in the form of greed, ambition, and
violence, that facilitates the novella’s disastrous final outcome, as Kino’s greed and the
greed of others lead to a series of conflicts over the pearl.
- Kino finds himself caught between the forces of fate and the forces of human society,
between the destiny handed him by fate and the destiny he seeks to create himself.

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(13)COLONIAL SOCIETYS OPPRESSION OF NATIVE CULTURES
- The doctor who refuses to save Coyotito’s life at the beginning of the novel because
Kino lacks the money to pay him represents colonial arrogance and oppression.
- Snide and condescending, the doctor displays an appallingly limited and self-centered
mind-set that is made frightening by his unshakable belief in his own cultural
superiority over Kino, and by the power that he holds to save or destroy lives.
- Steinbeck implicitly accuses the doctor’s entire colonial society of such destructive
arrogance, greed, and ambition.
- The European colonizers that govern Kino and the native people are shown to bring
about the destruction of the native society’s innocence, piety, and purity.

(14)NATURE OF POWER
Power vs. powerlessness is a theme that runs throughout The Pearl.
-Kino’s race has been subjugated for centuries by European colonialism.
-The oyster bed where Kino finds the great pearl is the same bed “that had raised the
King of Spain to be a great power in Europe in past years, had helped to pay for his wars,
and had decorated the churches for his soul’s sake.”
-Kino’s conquered people have remained powerless for four hundred years, “since first
the strangers came with arguments and authority and gunpowder to back up both.”
-Once established, the subjugation of the Indians has been perpetuated by society’s
ensuring that they remain poor and ignorant.
-Any desire they might have for a better life is suppressed by the church; the priest in La
Paz teaches that each person must “remain faithful” to his station in life, assigned by
God, in order to protect the universe from “the assaults of Hell.”
-Kino is well aware of how powerless he is in life. After finding the pearl, his dreams of
the future include buying a rifle, a weapon that gives a man power.
-More significantly, however, he dreams of an education for his son. If Coyotito could
read, “the boy would know what things were in the books and what things were not.”
Kino understands that real power lies in knowledge: “My son will read and open the
books, and my son will write and know writing. And my son will make numbers, and
these things will make us free because he will know—he will know and through him we
will know.”
-The pearl means more than wealth to Kino; it offers an end to being trapped by
ignorance. “This is our one chance,” he tells Juana. “Our son must go to school. He must
break out of the pot that holds us in.” In defying the pearl buyers and challenging the
system they represent, Kino initiates a power struggle that ultimately ends in Coyotito’s
death.

(15)PRIDE
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-Kino’s subjugation by society has not destroyed his pride or self-respect. Only for fear of
Coyotito’s dying does he ask, hat in hand, for the doctor’s assistance.
-When he is turned away with an obvious lie by the doctor’s servant, Kino feels so deeply
humiliated he is overcome by rage.
-He stands at the gate to the doctor’s house for “a long time,” puts his “suppliant hat on
his head,” and then strikes the gate with “a crushing blow.” He will not consent to being
marginalized; his pride will not allow him to endure passively the doctor’s insult.
-Kino’s pride is manifested again in his confrontation with the pearl buyers in La Paz.
Knowing that he is being cheated, Kino refuses to sell his pearl to them; in declaring that
he will sell the pearl in the capital, Kino asserts his independence and refuses to be
humiliated again.
-Later, when Kino’s house is burned and his canoe destroyed, the loss is more than
material. To Juan Tomás Kino says, “An insult has been put on me that is deeper than my
life.” Kino’s pride, as much as his desire to secure money for Coyotito’s future, demands
that he challenge the system that holds him down. He has no choice, for as he tells Juana,
“I am a man.”

(16)MONEY VERSUS HAPPINESS

-From the start of the novel it appears that Kino lives in a natural and peaceful
environment in harmony with his wife and child.
-They have a roof over their heads and they have Kino’s ancestral canoe and most of all
they have each other. Kino has the false belief that the newfound material wealth could
grant them more happiness.
-In the end the pearl costs Kino his harmonious life, his house, his canoe and his family.
-The moral of the story is that money cannot buy happiness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
NOTABLE QUOTES IN THE BOOK
-----------------------------------------------------

(1) Kino watches “with the detachment of God” as an ant tries to escape the trap
set for it by an ant lion (an insect that preys on ants).

☆The narrator does not say if the ant manages to escape or not, but we see in this event
the symbolism of the story, the fate of a human who is trapped while God watches on, not
caring or interfering. Like the ant, Kino finds himself in a trap when he finds the pearl
that he believes will make his fortune and give him a life that he never even dreamed
about before. All around him, the “ant lions” in the forms of the priest, the doctor, and the
pearl buyers (as well as the unknown assailant) are trying to drag him down into their
trap to consume him. Kino manages to escape from the trap, but not without losing his
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baby son and his home.

(2) But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on
the back by God or the gods or both.

☆The narrator contends that certain occurrences that shape human life are accidents
willed by a divine power, events over which human beings have no control. It becomes
clear that the discovery of pearls is a function of such seemingly arbitrary divine fate.
Kino’s eventual downfall can thus be seen as not entirely his own fault. The quotation
also subtly alludes to the mixed cultural background of the natives in The Pearl: they
come from a culture in which people believe in more than one god but have been
governed for centuries by Catholic Spaniards who have built churches in which only a
single God is worshipped. As a result, the natives are spiritually somewhat ambivalent,
unsure as to whether the higher power in which they believe consists of “God” or “the
gods.”

(3)In the pearl he saw Coyotito sitting at a little desk in a school, just as Kino had
once seen it through an open door. And Coyotito was dressed in a jacket, and he
had on a white collar and a broad silken tie. Moreover, Coyotito was writing on a
big piece of paper. Kino looked at his neighbors fiercely. “My son will go to school,”
he said, and the neighbors were hushed. . . .
Kino’s face shone with prophecy. “My son will read and open the books, and my
son will write and will know writing. And my son will make numbers, and these
things will make us free because he will know—he will know and through him we
will know. . . . This is what the pearl will do.”

☆ This passage from Chapter 3 describes the moment of Kino’s pivotal decision to direct
all his energies toward using the pearl to obtain an education for Coyotito. Kino’s
ambition constitutes an attempt to shake the foundations of his society by placing his
son on a level with the natives’ European oppressors. The vehemence with which Kino
reacts to his vision, as well as the hushed silence with which the neighbors hear it, is a
testament to the improbable nature of Kino’s plan not only to improve his son’s lot but to
break “free” of a centuries-long cycle of oppression. From this moment forward, Kino
remains obsessed with his goal, which he can achieve only by making a great deal of
money from his pearl. The image of Coyotito as an equal to the colonists transfixes Kino
throughout the novella.

(4) And the evils of the night were about them. The coyotes cried and laughed in
the brush, and the owls screeched and hissed over their heads. And once some
large animal lumbered away, crackling the undergrowth as it went. And Kino
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gripped the handle of the big working knife and took a sense of protection from it.

☆ This quotation from Chapter 6 demonstrates how Kino’s relationship with nature has
changed, symbolizing his personal and moral downfall. In general, Steinbeck portrays
the natural world positively in The Pearl, using beautiful language and images of sun-
drenched scenery. This scene reverses that trend, as Steinbeck illustrates the dark and
frightening aspect of nature. We sense that the universe itself opposes Kino’s course of
action. Kino himself reveals an adversarial relationship with nature by his defensive
gripping of his knife handle to reassure himself. Where Kino earlier lived in harmony
with nature, his ambition has made him nature’s enemy.

(5)"And, as with all retold tales that are in people's hearts, there are only good and
bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between.
If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and
reads his own life into it."

☆ Found within the prologue, this quote reveals how The Pearl's plot is not entirely
original to Steinbeck. In fact, it is a known story that is often told, perhaps like a folk
legend. And as with most parables, there is a moral to this story.

(6) "When Kino had finished, Juana came back to the fire and ate her breakfast.
They had spoken once, but there is not need for speech if it is only a habit anyway.
Kino sighed with satisfaction—and that was conversation.

☆From Chapter 1, these words paint Kino, the main character, and Juana's lifestyle as
unembellished and quiet. This scene depicts Kino as simple and wholesome before he
discovers the pearl.

(7) "Luck, you see, brings bitter friends.”

☆ These ominous words in Chapter 3 spoken by Kino's neighbors foreshadow how the
discovery of the pearl can harbor a troublesome future.

(8) "For his dream of the future was real and never to be destroyed, and he had
said, 'I will go,' and that made a real thing too. To determine to go and to say it was
to be halfway there."

☆ Unlike the deference to the gods and chance in an earlier quote, this quote from
Chapter 4 shows how Kino is now taking, or at least trying to take, full control of his
future. This raises the question: is it chance or self-agency that determines one's life?
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(9):"This pearl has become my soul... If I give it up, I shall lose my soul."

☆ Kino utters these words in Chapter 5, revealing how he is consumed by the pearl and
the materiality and greed it represents.

(10) “All manner of people grew interested in Kino – people with things to sell and
people with favours to ask. Kino had found the Pearl of the World. The essence of
pearl mixed with essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated.
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.”

☆ Kino’s news is constantly circulated amongst the town and village people, it could be
his fault as he began to voice his ambitions loud enough for people to hear. Although
those people pose as Kino’s friends and neighbors and accompany him as a force of
support, his new found riches spark greed and envy within their once loyal and
harmonious unison.
It could be that those people are his concerned neighbors in broad daylight, but when
night time comes they turn into the envious and greedy attackers who try to take Kino’s
plans and ambition as their own. It seems the evil of the pearl brings out the inherent
evil in mankind.

(11) “Thus Kino’s future was real, but having set it up, other forces were set up to
destroy it, and this he knew, so that he had to prepare to meet the attack. And this
Kino knew also – that the gods do not love men’s plans, and the gods do not love
success unless it comes by accident. He knew that the gods take their revenge on a
man if he be successful through his own efforts. Consequently Kino was afraid of
plans, but having made one, he could never destroy it.”

☆Kino was taught as a child that ambition beyond one’s means is a sin punishable by the
gods. He is aware that the attackers who plan to steal the pearl are doomed to fail, but he
is also aware that his plans and ambitions are also doomed to fail by god.
The price Kino has to pay for his sin is the death of his son Coyotito which teaches him
valuable lessons. That money cannot buy him happiness, and that over ambition and
greed is man’s true folly.
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SYMBOLS IN THE BOOK
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(1)THE PEARL
-The pearl is a symbol of wealth which is quite ambivalent in its nature throughout the
novel. When Kino first finds the pearl, it is a symbol of hope and salvation. The pearl and
what it holds of wealth represents a great potential for the family and so their ambitions
grow big. But like wealth, the pearl represents all the evil in the world. It seems all the
greed and evil surfaces in the presence of wealth.

(2)THE SCORPION
-The scorpion is a form of foreshadowing as well as a symbol of the evil that is yet to
come into Kino’s life. The scorpion sneaks into the family’s home in attempts to take
away their most valuable possession, their son. This is a foreshadowing of the many
town’s people who are filled with poisonous envy and evil as they sneak into Kino’s
home to steal the pearl and poison his life.

(3) CANOE
-Kino's canoe is the tool he uses to provide for his family and is an essential part of his
life. Kino's canoe enables him to catch fish and carries him to deeper waters, where he
dives for pearls. Steinbeck writes that Kino's canoe was the "one thing of value he owned
in the world" and was passed down through generations in his family.
☆ Symbolically, the canoe represents Kino's heritage, culture, and family. Kino's life and
future are intricately linked to his canoe.

After Kino finds the Pearl of the World, he plans on traveling across the sea to the capital
in his canoe, where he can sell the pearl for a high price. Kino then kills a man in self-
defense and plans on using the canoe to escape from the village and flee the authorities.
Unfortunately, Kino discovers that there is a gaping hole in the bottom of his canoe.
Steinbeck writes,

"This was an evil beyond thinking. The killing of a man was not so evil as the
killing of a boat. For a boat does not have sons, and a boat cannot protect itself,
and a wounded boat does not heal" (32).

-Given the fact that Kino planned on escaping the village in his canoe, the destroyed
canoe symbolically represents the loss of hope and peace in Kino's life. The Song of Evil
surrounds the sunken canoe, and Kino's life takes a turn for the worse.
☆Kino's family, heritage, and peaceful existence are destroyed once his canoe is
irreparably damaged

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THE PEARL GREED QUOTES
♡It came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a
memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wondered what the pearl would
be worth.

♡The news came to the doctor […]. And the doctor's eyes rolled up a little in their fat
hammocks and he thought of Paris.

♡The news came early to the beggars in front of the church, and it made them giggle a
little with pleasure, for they knew that there is no almsgiver in the world like a poor man
who is suddenly lucky. (3.2-3.4)

☆Greed is an emotion that touches everyone in The Pearl; the discriminating factor is
not whether a person feels greed, but how he responds to it.

♡In the town, in little offices, sat the men who bought pearls from the fishers. They
waited in their chairs until the pearls came in, and then they cackled and fought and
shouted and threatened until they reached the lowest price the fisherman would stand.
But there was a price below which they dared not go, for it had happened that a
fisherman in despair had given his pearls to the church. (3.5)

☆Greed has corrupted what should be a pure system.

MORAL LESSONS FROM THE PEARL

The primary moral lesson is developed from the contrast between Kino and Juana's life
before discovering the great pearl and their life after it came into their possession. The
opening scene in the novella shows Kino, Juana, and their baby son, Coyotito, living in
peace and natural beauty on the beach, very near the ocean's waters. They live in
poverty, but there is harmony and contentment in the simplicity of their lives. In the final
scene, Kino and Juana return to the beach--their dead baby's body wrapped in his
mother's shawl--where Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean. The events between
the beginning and the end, once Kino becomes obsessed with the pearl, detail the
manner in which evil destroys all that was good in Kino and Juana's life together.

The lesson of The Pearl can be stated numerous ways:

☆A man can lose all that he truly values if he becomes obsessed with wealth.
☆Greed corrupts and opens the door to evil.
☆What is most valuable in life cannot be purchased at any price.
☆Money cant buy happiness.
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However the lesson of The Pearl might be stated, the story shows clearly that Kino's
"Pearl of the World" destroys the peace, harmony, and goodness of his own world.

10 Coordination - Questions