The Pearl 3 Essay, Research Paper

The Pearl

Kino, a poor Indian fisherman, lives on the Gulf of California

with his wife Juana and son Coyotito. Their simple hut is made of

brush, and the couple sleeps on mats thrown on the dirt floor, while

Coyotito sleeps in a hanging box. Like others in their poor village,

they depend on nature for survival.

As The Pearl begins, dawn is breaking. Kino watches the sun

rise and listens to the sounds of the morning. But within moments, a

dangerous situation develops. A poisonous scorpion stings Coyotito,

Kino’s infant son, and the baby’s screams draw people from all over

the village. Juana insists that the doctor be called, but Kino knows

the physician is Spanish and considers himself above treating poor

Indians. This does not satisfy Juana, who announces that if the doctor

will not come to the village, then they will go to his house. But the

doctor refuses to treat Coyotito because Kino is too poor.

Later that day, while Kino and Juana are fishing in the Gulf,

Kino finds an enormous pearl and cries out in joy. He believes the

pearl will make him rich and enable him to provide security for his

family. But Kino discovers otherwise. The pearl stirs envy in the

villagers, and that night Kino is attacked in his hut by a thief. The

following day, he tries to sell the pearl to buyers in town, but he is

offered only a small amount of money for it. The buyers all work for

the same man. They know the pearl is worth a fortune but hope to buy

it cheaply by pretending that it is worth little.

Kino says he will sell his pearl in the capital city, where he

believes he will get a fair price. This amazes the villagers because

Kino has never traveled so far. After dark that evening, Kino is

attacked again. Juana is sure the pearl is evil and will destroy the

family. During the night, she quietly removes it from the spot where

Kino has hidden it and tries to throw it back into the ocean. He stops

her before she succeeds and beats her for trying. As he returns to the

hut, Kino is attacked again, this time by two men. He kills one of

them, and the other escapes.

Because of the killing, Kino knows that he will be hunted as a

murderer. As a result, he and Juana must leave the village the next

morning. However, before they can escape their canoe is destroyed and

their hut is burned. They hide until the next night in the hut of

Kino’s brother, Juan Tomas. The following evening, Kino and Juana

begin their journey to the capital. Soon they realize they are being

followed by three people, so they flee up the mountain and hide in a

small cave. Their followers set camp in a clearing just below the

cave. Kino decides the only way to survive is for him to kill the

person on guard, take his rifle, and kill the other two, who are

sleeping.

Kino goes to the followers’ camp and is about to attack them

when his son Coyotito cries out. Kino knows that he must act

immediately upon his enemies, but he is a second too late and one of

them shoots toward the cave. There is a struggle and Kino kills all

three of his enemies. The earlier shot has killed Coyotito. The

following afternoon the villagers witness the return of Kino and

Juana, carrying the rifle and their dead child. Without a word to

anyone, they walk through the village to the shore. Kino lays down the

rifle, takes out the pearl, and throws it into the sea.

It is difficult to get to know the characters in The Pearl in

the same way you might get to know the characters in other novels.

They say very little, and you see them in few situations. Their

actions seem to be based more on ancient habits than on free choice.

Like in one of his other books that I have reed, Of Mice and Men, the

characters were not developed thoroughly and stood as more of symbols

than actual characters in the story. However, the strong symbolization

made by the pearl is a great asset to the story. The pearl in the

story has a strong allegorical message to the reader about human

greed. Kino becomes a symbol of the poor but happy man who is

destroyed when he becomes obsessed with his wantings of the material

world. The pearl that was supposed to bring him happiness and

contentment brings him only death and destruction. At the end of the,

both Kino’s dream and his son are dead.