In the novella, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the author aims to teach the reader lessons about life through the use of themes. Simple and hardworking, Kino and his people face injustice because they are being controlled and manipulated by the cruel Europeans. After Kino finds the pearl, he is no longer content with his simple belongings, and he is willing to risk everything he has to get more. While Steinbeck tries to teach the reader about how injustice and greed affects humans, perhaps his most poignant theme is about the hazy mirage. The Pearl is filled to the top with major themes that apply to everyone’s life, but the most important are injustice from those above Kino and his people, greed that is caused by the pearl, and the chaotic mirage. …show more content…
When the European doctor receives the news that Kino is desperately seeking treatment for Coyotito, his first born son’s, scorpion sting, the doctor angrily responds, “‘Have I nothing better to do than cure insect bites for ‘little Indians’? I am a doctor, not a veterinary’” (11). There is a very clear division between the indigenous natives and the wealthy Europeans. As a separate culture, the doctor’s race treats Kino’s people as inferior and considers them to be “lower” or even animalistic. Several factors, including weapons, education, and wealth, put the Europeans in a more powerful position. To gain power, the European characters take advantage of the natives. In the world today, similar dynamics exist because of greed. Steinbeck’s story brings these issues of injustice to the reader’s attention. Perhaps the consequences at the end of the story are a warning to the effects of injustice and …show more content…
In the broad estuary next to Kino’s village, “The sea bottom was rich with crawling and swimming and growing things. The brown algae waved in the gentle currents and the green eel grass swayed and the sea horses clung to its stems. Spotted botete, the poison fish, lay on the bottom in the eel-grass beds…” (13). Peaceful and relaxing, all seems well at the surface of the estuary, but in reality, there are maleficent and evil creatures secretly lurking beneath the exterior. Like the deadly fish that reside at the bottom of the estuary, the European pearl buyers are cheating and lying right under Kino’s nose. When Kino tries to sell his magnificent pearl, he does not know that all the pearl buyers are working together to form a monopoly and sell the pearl to Kino for as little money as possible. To take control over Kino’s people, the wealthy Europeans use the ideas of injustice, greed, and the mirage. Because all three of these themes are still very prominent today, Steinbeck shows in The Pearl the drastic and horrible consequences that come with
Kino found one of the most valuable and precious pearls in the world and being convinced of its worth was not going to be cheated by only minimally upgrading his condition of life. Instead he wanted to break the fixed life and role that he and his family had and always would live. Kino refuses the maximum offer of fifteen hundred pesos that would easily ease his and his family’s pain and suffering for the coming months. Kino is then determined to trek to the capital to find a fair and just offer. Kino continues determined through the mountains after an attempt at the pearl, his canoe destroyed and his hut set a blaze. Continuing to put his family’s life on the line. It eventually takes the death of his beloved son Coyotito to make him realize he needs to stop being so greedy, no matter how hard he tries and to shut his mouth and know his role.
Novels can create the power to teach the reader about people and life. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” that was set in the 1930’s American depression, teach readers about how humans need company and the impact of loneliness. These themes are shown through the characters experiences with power and powerlessness. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty. Steinbeck used his imagination to produce a novel that explores all the different experiences we come across in
In conclusion, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a novel where all “American Dreams” are shattered. This in turn displays Steinbeck’s thought of how unachievable the “American Dream” actually is. The unrealistic nature of “American Dreams” is further supported by the fate of the 3 characters, Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. All in all, the fact that circumstances, regretful actions, and unethical ideas of humanity as a whole, all provide in the impracticality of the American Dream, the dream for dreamers.
Throughout The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the themes of greed and prejudice are greatly expressed, from the beginning with the unjust doctor to the suspenseful end of the supposed ‘Pearl of the World.’ It is amazing, that even in a timeless story as this one, these harsh realities still haunt their world. It could take place yesterday, today, or tomorrow, but the point is that one cannot revert the world to one way of thinking, that is why greed and prejudice still exist. One can try as hard as they want but there are going to be those who are stubborn, of hard will, and those who believe their thoughts are right. I want to show that these themes go far beyond this parable and apply to the world we live in.
In the novel by John Steinbeck, Kino finds “The Pearl of the World”, but it soon causes him to worry and fear that everyone is out to get him. For example, one situation that illustrates this was when, “Juana, sitting by the firehole,
“He who wants everything everytime will lose everything, anytime”- Vikrant Parsai. This famous quote supports the theme of “Greed and materialism left unchecked, can lead to immoral behavior such as violence” in the book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Kino and Juana find the pearl of the world while Kino gets a little too obsessed with the pearl. Juana tries to hide it and make everything better, but everything backfires on her . Kino goes crazy about what Juana tries to do to help him and does things no one would ever imagine.With this in mind, all the readers will look at how greed is expressed through characters,and even Kino himself and symbolism.
Steinbeck portrays the wealthy men of the era as heartless and egotistical people who only care for themselves. His message through the portrayal of these wicked men is one of simplicity, egotism, greed, selfishness, and heartlessness are all traits which a man shouldn?t possess. The themes which run throughout the novel are as valuable today as they were in the mid 1900?s, and Steinbeck urges his reader to recognize that. His depiction of the selfishness of man serves to teach about human nature, and by acknowledging the harmfulness of the greedy and corrupt businessmen, one can learn how to act morally and ethnically responsible.
He is driven by greed, so much so that he could even see dreams form in the pearl. Kino is the head of a modest household and until he finds the pearl he lives a satisfied life with all he needs for his family to be happy. As soon as Kino finds the pearl he starts to want possessions he never wanted before. He dreams of education for Coyotito, marrying Juana in a Catholic church, purchasing new clothing for his family, and getting a harpoon and a rifle for himself. “It was the rifle that broke down the barriers . . . for it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more” (Steinbeck 32). Located within a small poverty-stricken community, a pearl diver named Kino finds “the Pearl of the World” and becomes suddenly rich, he begins to want items that he thought were impossible before. As Kino thinks more and more of what the pearl can do for him, he starts to think that it will raise his social status as well. This is only the beginning of Kino’s greediness, for the more he gets, the more he will want, and this begins to dehumanize him. Kino focuses on the wealth of the pearl and causes him to change his values about life. In the beginning, Kino is only focused on his family, once Kino finds the pearl he becomes more focused on the pearl, rather than his family. Kino cares a lot more about losing the pearl rather than something bad happening to his loved
The microcosm in the novel Of Mice and Men contains within it a collection of characters whose purpose is to underline the narrative theme of weak versus the strong. The peculiar narration by the author introduces the rising of the motif, oppressed victims fighting a powerful and an unjust opposition. The idealistic perspective envelopes the audience and forces it to pity and provide sympathy for the feeble individuals such as Crooks and Candy. The characters’ flirtation with larger ideas such as the American dream and racial inequality serve as the catalyst for the reader to conjecture upon a deeper meaning surrounding the rather simplistic series of struggles. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the deliberate presentation of Crooks, Candy and Curley’s wife as the victims of the oppressive forces allows the author’s narration to convey the underlying theme of weak versus strong within the novel.
John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of a pearl diver named Kino. Kino lives a simple life, and adores his family. At the beginning of the story Steinbeck shows how content Kino’s family is. Everything seems to be going perfect for Kino and his family that is until the discovery of the most wonderful pearl in the world changes his life forever. As the story advances Kino’s newborn, Coyotito gets bitten by a scorpion. Kino’s wife, Juana insists that they take Coyotito to the town’s doctor. Inevitably the doctor refuses to help Coyotito because Kino is unable to make a payment.
After Kino found his great pearl bad things started happening, Kino and Juana's lives were in trouble. Two men notified in the book as the "dark ones" tried to steal the pearl, luckily Kino had been prepared and got rid of the enemies but that was not the end of the misery. Coyotito got very sick and the Doctor had deliberately made things worse. When it was time to sell the pearl, the buyers offered prices that Kino thought were too low. Kino was angry with the pearl buyers for what they had said. "I will not make an offer at all. I do not want it. This is not a pearl - it is a monstrosity." Kino got angry and decided he wanted to go elsewhere and find a buyer for the pe...
A Deadly Sin Indeed: The Elements of Fiction that Convey a Theme of Greed in The Pearl
...een stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It had brought evil. Kino my husband, it will destroy us” (38). The pearl brought greed to the forefront of the community; everyone wanted the pearl for him or herself. Juana, who was at one time thanking God for the pearl, was now telling Kino to throw it away because the greed that it was causing woul eventually destroy them.
One example of this universal theme of humanity’s struggle with violence that occurred in this novel happened when Kino violently attacked his wife to keep her from throwing his “precious” pearl into the sea. “ . . . he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. He struck her in the face with ...
This leads to change and, eventually, downfall. Before he finds the pearl, Kino “was a well-liked man” (43), and adored by all of his neighbors. Everyone looked up to his kindness and sympathy, but when he finds the Pearl, he changes. The pearl takes control over him, and he becomes too obsessed with getting his money. He loses his many things over it: “now it is my misfortune and my life and I will keep it” (66). The neighbors even suspect, “‘what a pity it would be if the pearl should destroy them all.’” (43) For example, KIno loses his family when he tries to protect the pearl and defies the pearl buying system, and when he mishandles Juana. Loisng his canoe symbolizes thi sloss of his family. He also loses his sanity. he beats Juana and kills four men. He “‘killed a man’” (61) and joins in many fights. For greed, he turns down the salesman`s offer for the pearl and ends with nothing left. Kino has the chance to take the money offered to him and be done, but he is greedy and he wants more. Then, at the end of the book, Kino throws the pearl into the sea, and with it, all the money he could possibly gain. He also lets the doctor treat Coyotito, even with his doubts, and now can not pay him because the pearl is his payment method, which is now gone. He thinks his money is secure, and in his mind, he is a rich man. This is not necessarily true, as readers learn, and because he was so secure, he must now pay for unnecessary