"What various things does the pearl symbolize? What does it mean to Kino at different stages of the novel? What does it mean to different members of the community?" What do you believe the pearl symbolizes? The pearl can symbolize multiple things depending on how you view the things that happen. The pearl in The Pearl symbolized a lot of things to Kino and his family. It also symbolized many things to the others like the citizens of the town. Kino and his family go through various things because of the pearl. Their life changes it as they know it. What does the pearl symbolize in the novel? The pearl symbolizes many things in the novel. The pearl is a sign of hope when they first acquire the pearl. "Our son must go to school. He must break out of the pot that holds us in," Kino said this planning to use the pearl for a better future for his son. Kino and his family saw the pearl as a good thing and a hope for the future. The pearl represented both, hope and sorrow. Hope because if they used it right and watched themselves their …show more content…
In the beginning he saw the pearl as this great thing that would help his family live on and be happy. "Our son must go to school. He must break out of the pot that holds us in," he said this with hopes of using the pearl for Coyotito’s schooling and giving him a better future with that knowledge. Toward the end of having the pearl he becomes insane and insecure. Juana realizes that the pearl is evil and says to Kino, "Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us - let us throw it back in the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil!” Kino then starts taking into consideration of Juana is saying and becomes more into the thought that the pearl is really evil. Kino believes different things about the pearl from the beginning to the end, he goes from seeing it as hope to destruction and
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.
In conclusion, Kino and I must return to the village and throw away the pearl because it is has completely changed his personality and placed our family in jeopardy. The pearl has brought evil to our family and has not helped us prosper in any way. Therefore, this pearl is useless and evil, and should not be a part of our family any longer.
One form of symbolism is when the pearl changed colors from the beginning to the end of the book. In the beginning, the pearl was described as “perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence.” (Steinbeck, 20) However, at near the end of the book, the pearl was described as “ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth.” (Steinbeck, 86) This means that the pearl’s evil grew out of control and invaded Kino’s body like a disease. The author is telling the reader that at the end of the novel, the pearl has drained out all of it’s evil. Another form of symbolism is the songs Kino hears in his head. There were songs, such as the song of the family or the song of evil, that would show the reader what the character was thinking about and feeling dread or delight. Before the first evil that the pearl brought into Kino and Juana’s lives, he began to hear the songs again. In the book, it read, “darkness spread over the page, and with darkness came the music of evil again.” (Steinbeck, 36) From that point on, Kino would always hear that song when the pearl brought them
Most novels usually have a main symbol, which teaches a character, or the reader, a very important lesson or moral. This is true in Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter, where Hester Prynne's daughter Pearl serves as the most extensive living symbol in the entire novel. She is much more of a symbol than an actual character. Pearl symbolizes Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale's concealed love affair and plays a key character in The Scarlet Letter as well.
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
Initially Pearl symbolizes the shame of Hester's public punishment for adultery. Then as Pearl grew older, she symbolizes the wreck of Hester's life and mental state by harassing her mother over the scarlet 'A' which is embroidered on her dress (Yang). Pearl is a symbol for Hester's scarlet letter.
Readers can tell from the statement that many of the people Kino encounters after finding the pearl become bitter “friends”. At this point, Kino and Juana begin to realize that the pearl is bringing bad luck upon them. They are taken advantage of by the doctor and he decides to visit them after knowing they have the pearl. “This pearl is like a sin”(56). Juana begins to realize the pearl is bringing them bad luck, but Kino still trusts that it’s a gift. Readers can also assume that people are trying to take the pearl when Kino is suddenly attacked during the night. “Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long…”(56). Readers can now confirm that the pearl has changed and now represents evil. The pearl also begins to destroy Kino and Juana’s relationship as they have different opinions on what to do with the pearl. After Kino wakes up and follows Juana when she wakes up and walks out, readers know he has started to lose full trust in her. “He rolled up to his feet and followed her silently as she had gone” (58). Through the symbolism of the pearl and what it brings upon Kino and Juana, the author emphasizes how the pearl is not what it first appears to be, which was
It is also a preface into the symbolism that Pearl embodies. She, in most scenes of the book, acts less like a human and more like a symbol. Pearl is a symbol of sin, a symbol of unity and moreover, a symbol of the conscience. Pearl is an emblem to the Puritan settlement that ultimately frees her parents from shame due to the symbolic nature Hawthorne provides as Pearls characteristics.
For example, when Juana argues with Kino about the pearl, she tells Kino, “The pearl is like a sin” (38). The pearl is compared to a sin using a simile and reveals how Juana truly feels about the pearl as it connotes evil, envy, and greed. This supports the fact that the pearl converts Kino and that it isn’t benevolent. In addition, when Juan Tomas tells Kino to leave the pearl, Kino tells Juan, “The pearl has become my soul” (67). Kino is shown to have an obsession with the pearl and that it controls him. His commitment to the pearl connotes obsession, delusion, and compulsion. The pearl and it’s hold on Kino is why he is dehumanized as the book progresses
The pearl symbolizes many different things. To Kino, at first it symbolized happiness and hope. On page 39 in chapter 3, it has stated, "So lovely it was, so soft, and its own music came from it- its music of promise and delight, its guarantee of the future, of comfort and security. Its warm lucence promised a poultice against illness and a wall against insult. It closed a door on hunger." Kino sought happiness and riches, and as he was desperate he was blind to the greed that was enveloping him. All he saw was impossible hopes and dreams in the pearl. In other words, to him, the pearl guaranteed money and the comfort of a tranquil life.
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...
Unfortunately, Kino doesn’t have enough money to pay the doctor so Kino goes out to find the pearl that changes his life. Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate the emotions of hope, despair, and defiance of the character Kino. Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate hope. When Kino cannot get the help he needed,
It represents this because the pearl is evil in the way where it brings others who are jealous of Kino having a pearl of such riches and then them trying to steal it in any way possible. In The Pearl Juana tells kino after a unknown person come and attacks them Juana says, “It will destroy us all … Even our son”(39). This connects this to the topic because the evil in the pearl will ruin them and will most likely kill them. Another thing that Juana say in the book about the pearl is, “This thing is evil … This pearl is like a sin”(33).This quote connects to the overall topic because the pearl is so evil that it is like a sin(a bad thing done against your god or gods.).
...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.
John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver who lives in Mexico with his wife, Juana and his baby boy, Coyotito. One day Kino finds a huge pearl worth a great deal of money. Kino dreams of being rich and buying all that he wants after he sells the pearl. The one thing that Kino doesn't realize is that there are many people who will do anything to steal the pearl from him. No one ever suspects the pearl's power todeceive, corrupt, and destroy. Hence, The Pearl depicts the ultimate battle between good and evil.