THE PEARL

The Pearl

By: Andrea Basile

          What would happen if you found a pearl of the world? That’s what happens in “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck. Kino, the main character, was having his usual day, until a scorpion fell on his baby son and stung him. The baby was in desperate need for a doctor. But sadly the only doctor in the town was a white person….and the white people were racist so the doctor refused to help Coyotito’s scorpion bite unless Kino had good money to offer. Kino had nothing so his only hope was to find a pearl worth enough to pay the doctor. In “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck Kino, the main character, becomes is obsessed with a pearl and eventually destroys his family.

            When Kino finds “the pearl of the world” he thinks it’s so valuable and that it meant so much to have it in his possession. Kino could finally get married in a church, could pay the doctor to heal his son, would get his son to go to a school and learn how to read and write, could buy other food besides cornbread and life would be so, so good for Kino and his family. And at first it was great and it was a good thing to have this pearl, but little by little the pearl started to get dangerous and evil.

            Suddenly people start to see the riches this pearl could give them, and people started to want it really bad and they’d do just about anything to get it. People from the town started to come into Kino’s house to try to steal it, and they’ve even tried to kill Kino. But Kino is so obsessed with the pearl to give in...even though this pearl was starting to put his family in danger he still didn’t let it go.

            Even when Kino didn’t want to let it go, Juana could see the evil in the pearl and she wanted it out of her house before it destroyed her family. Juana tried to talk to Kino about how evil the pearl was but Kino didn’t listen and instead got mad at Juana for even suggesting to get rid of it. An example of Kino being greedy and obsessed is on page 59 Juana tried to throw the pearl back into the lake, but Kino caught her and he was so angry that she tried to get rid of it that he beat her, kicking her in the side and punching her. So the pearl of the world brought Kino’s bad side out so much, that he beat his own wife. Another example is when Kino tried to sell the pearl to the pearl buyers, and the pearl buyers gave a fairly good price but he still said no and that he wanted a much higher price. Another example was when Kino said to his brother Juan Tomas on page 67 “This pearl as become my soul, and if I give It up I shall lose my soul.”  This statement that Kino made means that the pearl is pretty much all that Kino has to live for and that it is more important than anything else. Kino will now do anything for the sake of the pearl and now that the pearl is in control of Kino.

          In the end the book Kino didn’t gain anything from the pearl and lost his only son. Kino got so obsessed that he didn’t realize that he was always putting his son and family in danger. So the lesson that Kino learned was never to put wealth in front of your family because it is not worth it.