The Pearl Essay, Research Paper

“The Pearl”

Theme: The main idea of this story is definitely bad luck. Kino and his family are poor but they have somewhat decent health. However when Coyotito gets sick and the Pearl is found that all changes. What this book is trying to say is that money is not everything in life. And in some cases, it brings bad luck. Money can also bring greed, as in the doctor?s case.

Setting: This story takes place in a small village somewhere near the sea. The inhabitants of this village are predominantly poor Indians who have very small living quarters. There is also a higher class area of this village where the doctor lives. However that area is secluded from the area in which the Indians live in.

Conflict and Resolution: There was one main conflict in this story for Kino and his family. It was when Coyotito was bitten by the scorpion. Kino find a pearl to pay for Coyotito?s treatment with. To make a long story short, Coyotito is eventually killed just because they have the pearl.(even though he was killed by accident )

Plot: The book all started out when Coyotito was bitten by a scorpion. To cure the bite, Coyotito is taken to the doctor?s office. The doctor refuses to treat baby Coyotito just because Kino does not have any money. To pay for the treatment, Kino goes out looking for a pearl to sell and pay the doctor with. After hours of looking, Kino finds a pearl the size of a sea gull?s egg. Word of this find quickly spread through town, and eventually made its way to the doctor. The doctor suddenly changed his mind about treating Coyotito. He examined Coyotito but instead of giving him medicine to feel better, he gave him poison. The doctor also acted as though he had never heard anything about the finding of the pearl.

Nevertheless Kino went into town hoping to sell the pearl. However.. Every store that he went to offered him a small amount of money for the pearl. They said that the pearl was fake and that it would decay in a matter of time. Kino became very frustrated by all of the nonsense that was going on. His wife Juana even urged him to throw the pearl back into the sea where he found it.They both decide that they will leave their home in the morning and set off for the north. But when they wake up a man attacks Kino, who quickly fights off the man and eventually kills him. Fire is also set onto Kino?s home destroying it and many other homes. Kino and his family hide out at Juan Tomas? house for a few days.

Now Kino, Juana, and Coyotito are ready to escape from this nightmare and begin a journey. They set off at night, and travel only at night. During the day, they hid from the trackers. They continue traveling until one day the trackers come extremely close to Kino. Coyotito is mistaken by one of the trackers as a coyote. Out of instinct, the tracker shoots and instantly kills Coyotito. Juana and Kino are stunned by the sudden turn of tragic events and decide to return home. Upon their arrival home, they both agree that the pearl has caused them enough bad luck. Therefore.. the pearl is thrown into the sea, never to be found again.

Protagonist: The main character of the pearl would definitely have to be Kino. Kino is a very hard working pearl diver. However, although he is hard working, that does not mean that he is very bright. For example, long before many misfortunes occurred, Juana urged Kino to throw the pearl back into the sea. But Kino, wanting to be rich and never have to work again wanted to have something that he had never experienced before,wealth. He wanted to keep trying to sell the pearl even though deep down he new that a store owner would not pay an Indian more than 1,500 pesos for the pearl. The main reason for finding the pearl was to get Coyotito better. That tune quickly surfaced into a ?must get money for pearl? journey for Kino.

Style: The author of this book, John Steinbeck had a very good use of description for his characters. He used in depth detail and made a boring book somewhat interesting. Not a lot of dialogue was used in this book,which could of made it easier to follow. Not many characters were used in this story, which I thought made the book easier to understand and easier to dislike.

Opinion:I thought that this was an interesting book right off the bat. Yet as i read further into the book, especially towards the end i began to get tired and felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. There was not a very good description of characters, I did not get to really know anybody in the book enough to really understand them much. Overall I would have to say this is a good book but definitely not Pulitzer prize material.