“The Pearl”, written by John Steinbeck is the story of a man who lives in the town of La Paz in the state of Baja California, Mexico, during the 1900s, a period of colonialism. Within the context of the story, the author uses themes of power and corruption to show the capability and dishonesty caused by power. The Spanish descendants use their power to subjugate the indigenous. The story shows how the character Kino goes from a state of powerless poverty to controlling power. Kino is corrupted by the pearl making him ultimately responsible for his family’s plight. As the novella´s plotline continues the character of Kino is further developed. He lives a happy life that satisfies him.“It was a morning like other mornings and yet perfect among …show more content…
“ ‘I am cheated,’ Kino cried fiercely. ‘My pearl is not for sale. I will go, perhaps even to the capital’ ” (52). Before Kino said this, he is told that his pearl was not worth anymore than 1,000 pesos. It is now he, not the sellers, who has the power to decide if he is going to sell the pearl or not. As Kino holds the pearl in his own bare hands, he has the courage to say that he is not selling the pearl. He is being cheated by the buyers, and is willing to not sell the pearl in the town, but to even risk his life by travelling to the capital for a higher price...which, would foreshadow Kino’s development of lack of honesty. Kino becomes savage he receives the pearls power. He begins to shows violence towards those he loves to save the pearl: “He stuck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side” (59). Kino is now doing what he needs to do to save the pearl. Juana was about to throw the pearl back into the ocean but Kino didn't not want that to happen so he brutally attacked her in hopes of stopping her from throwing it in the …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, Kino is represented as an honest man who chooses to do what is right over doing what is wrong, but by possessing the pearl he changes. “Oh, my brother, an insult has been put on me that is deeper than my life. For on the beach my canoe broken, my house is burned, and in the brush dead man lies. Every escape is cut off. You must hide us, my brother’ ” (65). As Kino’s house burns down the neighbors wonder whether r Kino and his family are inside, Kino can even hear all of the worried voices. If the same circumstance would have taken place at the beginning of the story, when Kino was a more honest man, he would have come out from his brother’s brush house and said that he and his family were fine, and maybe even take responsibility for killing the dead man next to the brush house. However, because Kino becomes corrupted by the power that the pearl gives him, he becomes dishonest, hides and runs away. The influence of the pearl degrades him, from a state of honesty to a state of corruption and he ends up bringing misery to himself, to his family and even to his
“ ... Juana stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes like a sheep before the butcher. She knew there was murder in him…” This shows that the pearl is taking over kino and that the pearl is bad. He killed a man due to the fact that the
The reason that Kino and Juana went searching for something of value was because Coyotito needed to be healed by the doctor. Once they found the “wonderful” pearl there was no longer a use for it. Juana’s seaweed cure had worked and now there was no need for the pearl. Kino only wanted to use it for things that weren’t necessary such as a wedding with Juana, with whom he was already married, and a rifle which he didn’t
The stranger attacks Kino in an attempt to find the pearl and steal it. Kino’s actions are described as follows, “His right hand went into his shirt and felt his knife… he stood up and walked to the doorway” (55) Kino is attacked and Steinbeck tells the reader how Juana reacts. “Kino lay on the ground, struggling to ride… Juana dropped her stone, and she put her arms around Kino and helped him to his feet… blood oozed down…”
Power is constantly dreamed of and strived for, but power causes corruption in society. The Great Depression was a time when only the richest of men had power and many times abused it. Throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck reveals the different ways social power affects and oppresses those around the powerful through imagery and important moments. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie, a physically powerful man with a much less powerful mind, and George, a sharp, independent man who has taken the role of caring for Lennie, arrive at a ranch in Soledad, California during the Great Depression to work on a farm. George and Lennie have a dream to live a life of independence and happiness, but the lack of power and weight of oppression they receive from Curley, the boss’s
The power of greed can destroy people and their wonderful and simple lives. It is not a physical power that physically kills you but rather a power that gets in your soul and destroys you from the inside. Greed is shown throughout The Pearl. The author showed greed throughout the book by using foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization. John Steinbeck, the author, used all of these devices to show that greed was able to take over people 's souls and change their state of minds because of the pearl’s ability to change people.
The Pearl is a story based around a man named Kino and his family. His family is extremely poor so when he finds a pearl that can make his family have a better life, he does everything to protect it, not realizing he can’t control the consequences.
In the first twenty stanzas, the Pearl author describes the Pearl in a mournful adoration. Early on, he falls into a sleep and dreams about a maiden adorned in pearls and in her bosom, a large pearl, the one he has searched and mourned for. He calls out to the Pearl, relating his emptiness he has held since he lost it. But soon, we discover that the Pearl indeed has more than an earthly quality to it. As many discovered, the author might have written this about his daughter.
In the novel The Pearl by John Steinbeck, ever since kino found the pearl he has noticed it brings bad luck, he keeps getting attacked for the pearl, and his family and neighbors realize the pearl is changing kinos personality. The ending of “The Pearl” would be different if Juana was able to convince kino t throw the pearl back into the water before the family leaves to go north. Thus, Kino should throw the pearl back because it brings bad luck, kino keeps on getting attacked, and kinos personality is changing. one point conveying the reasoning that kino should throw the pearl back is, The Pearl is bringing bad luck to kino and his family. kino states that someone has taken the pearl or he has lost it.
Kino wanted to sell the pearl so his son Coyotito could have a good life and education, he could own a gun, so he and Juana could have a real wedding, but soon after Kino’s love for his begins to change. ¨He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side¨ (Steinbeck 59). After
Juana pleads for Kino to get rid of the pearl, he talks her into relief and assurance that he will sell the pearl. Kino arrives at a pearl dealer’s store, only to be told that the pearl is only worth a small
‘When we sell it at last, I will have a rifle,’ he said, and he looked into the shining surface for his rifle, but he saw only a huddled dark body on the ground with shining blood dripping from its throat.” (Steinbeck, 72). This shows that pearls can’t destroy people, but people can. Kino was using the pearl for his own benefit. He even killed for the pearl.
Kino’s love for his family may have been what tore his family apart. The Pearl, a book written by John Steinbeck, is about a poverty-stricken family. When the protagonist, Kino, finds the pearl of the world their lives are forever altered. Juana, Kino’s wife, immediately wanted to use the pearl to pay off the doctor to heal her son, Coyotito, but Kino believed he could do that and much more. As Kino and Juana continue on with the days before trying to sell the pearl the jealousy, lust, and anger became apparent in a great deal of people who knew them.
This quote states that Kino won’t give up the pearl because he has become greedy. One of the reasons why Kino is a tragic hero is because he is greedy. “My son will go to school...we will be married... we will
When Kino heard about the pearl, it was called “the pearl that might be” meaning that the pearl could exist, but it is not one hundred percent positive that it actually existed. Kino knew that if he found that pearl that he could pay for his son to be healed. Stories from the natives proved it was a folktale, or just a legend. Juana even prayed for him to find the pearl. The next time that Kino went to search for pearls he found “the pearl that might be” in a large clam shell.
These three characters became greedy after each of them wanted to do something different with the pearl. The doctor wanted to keep the pearl in his safe, probably knowing it was valuable. Kino wanted to keep the pearl whether or not it was bringing evil to his family. Finally, the pearl buyer was attempting to convince Kino that the pearl was worthless and they tried getting the pearl for less money than it was actually worth. Overall, three literary devices were used to describe the greediness of three different characters.