Setting
Time- “The Pearl” is set around the late nineteenth century.
Place- The novel is located in the Baja Peninsula in La Paz, Mexico, a coastal village.
Influence on Plot- Since the story is written around the colonial times there were a lot of scenes in the book that showed how in people were separated by wealth. Additionally, it showed how people were obeyed to do anything they were told to do by their rulers.
Characters
Protagonist- Kino is the main character throughout the novel.
Antagonist- The hunters, thieves, and the buyers are the main antagonists.
Minor Characters- Juana and Coyotito are the minor characters in the story.
Juana- Juana changes throughout the book by a lot. In the beginning she is a loving, caring, strong, protective wife and mother. Through the middle of the middle of the book she turns into an anxious, concerned, curious, distrusting wife, unlike in the conclusion of the novel she becomes a thoughtful, sad, and depressed woman who feels guilty.
Kino- In the onset of the book Kino is a loving, thoughtful, strong, clever, hardworking, and respectful husband and father, on the other hand halfway through the tale he starts to act more aggressive, protective, and violent who doesn't think clearly. Yet, to the resolution of the writing piece Kino starts to become himself thoughtful, loving, caring, yet a sad husband.
Theme
Message- Wealth Will Not Solve All Your Problems
Author’s Craft/Support- You can learn many lessons from the short novel “The Pearl”, yet one if the most significant themes are that wealth will not solve all your problems. I know this because of what happens in the story. First, Kino and his family is I poverty, yet they find the “Pearl of the World” that they think woul...
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...o similes describe how as the plot of the novel develops Kino starts changing his attitude from thoughtful and loving to aggressive and mad.
Point of View
Perspective- The perspective is third person omniscient meaning we can hear various thoughts, perspectives’, feelings, and opinions. We can hear other voices than Kino’s like Juana’s and other characters.
Mood and Tone
The mood of the book is gloomy and is anxious; likewise the tone of the story is concerning and intense. I know this because of the words and actions the characters’ think or do. For instance, there are words in the story like “ destroy”, “attack”, “warning”, “explosion”, “dark”, and “killed.” These words included by the author give out a gloomy and suspenseful tone and mood. Similarly, the characters fight, kill, argue, and sabotage people also sending a negative feel to the story and reader.
2. Explain how a character in the book changed or is starting to change in the part you are reading?
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.
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.
What is the general feeling or mood of the book? Give specific examples of how the author creates that feeling or mood.
Kino has always shown a lack of emotion when it comes to anything, he runs away from how he really feels which ultimately hurts him and even causes his marriage to fail. Page 20 is a great example of Murakami's genius when it comes to symbolism. Kino never realized that he wasn't the only one who got hurt. Everything started to click to me as a reader, and that this book wasn't merely about some guy with a lack of emotion who got cheated on, and forgave his wife, but rather a journey of a man who needed some soul searching, which led to
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,
At the beginning of the novel a Soc known as Randy Anderson was described as tough mean person. Over time however he begins to deal with personal conflicts that radically change his personality. For one he begins to connect emotionally with Ponyboy.
Kino looked over to see the now blank, empty face of the tracker fall into the pool of water, turning it crimson , like the falling maple leaves, that carpeted the ground. Kino could now hear the cry of evil. It was screaming in his ear. Letting him know that no good was near. As the sound of evil was shrieking in his ear, he felt a piercing pain in his stomach. His eyes flashed down to the spot in which the pain oozed from. A knife tip was pointing out, letting a pool of blood escape the inclosure of his skin. He could feel all the issues that were prying at his brain, float away. The only thing that was left was, nothing. It was blank. White. Kino couldn’t remember the first time he met Juana. The first time he laid eyes on Coyotito. All his memories were swirling away in a big cloud of smoke.
"The Pearl" is about a poor man named Kino, his wife Juana, and their baby boy
Sometimes good luck can bring horrible results filled with pain, loss, and hatred. This is exactly what happens to Kino in The Pearl, by legendary author, John Steinbeck. The Pearl is a parable which holds the brilliant story of how one man’s findings of a great pearl will bring him and his family incredible sorrow and misfortune. In this book, John Steinbeck gloriously displays the many aspects of greed.
The discovery of the "magnificent" pearl changed the lives of Kino and Juana severely because they were not used to this kind of wealth. Before they found the pearl, Kino and Juana lived a happy, humble and quiet life. "Kino heard the little splash of the morning waves on the beach. It was very good - Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music."(Pg. 1-2) Kino loved the simple life; nevertheless whenever things were beginning to look good and simple something went wrong.
Kino is looked down upon and discriminated in his society due to his social class
An uncomplicated life based on one’s needs rather than their wants is not to be taken for granted. The author of The Pearl, John Steinbeck centers his novel on this theme. The novel focuses on Kino, an unwealthy diver, who’s baby gets stung by a scorpion, so he must find a way to pay for a doctor. One day Kino finds the pearl of the world, his first intention is to use the pearl to pay for medical expenses however, the pearl ends up creating many problems for Kino. Although readers believe that Juana choose correctly to give the pearl back to Kino, she should have disposed of the pearl when she had the opportunity to but it is understandable as to why some may believe
In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, the author shows how a sudden fortune can affect and influence a person’s behavior and life. In this story, Kino- a native living in a village called La Paz- has a content life of poverty, but when he acquires an immediate amount of wealth, he finds that he is overcome with greed and violence. After he discovers “the Pearl of the World” (pg. 22), Kino feels that he has power and authority because of his new found wealth. He uses it recklessly with selfish and desire, and he ends up losing even more of what he started with, including the death of his first-born son.
Due to human nature, we tend to seek out the best materialistic things. We work hard to earn more money to get newer and nicer things and sometimes this greed can get to even the best of us. When reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck I found that Steinbeck proposed many universal themes that are highly relatable to my life. Many themes and symbols have been cleverly weaved within Steinbeck’s novella allowing the reader to connect to Kino’s experiences. All things considered, Steinbeck’s symbols can clearly relate to my life through shared experiences with manipulation, chaos, and over obsession.