 |
Summary and analysis broken
down by chapters
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 1
Kino awakes and watches the
hanging box where his infant son, Coyotito, sleeps. He then watches his wife, Juana, who has also awakened and rests peacefully.
Kino thinks of the Song of the Family, a traditional song of his ancestors, as the dawn comes and Juana begins to prepare
breakfast. Kino's ancestors had been great makers of songs, and everything they saw or thought had become a song. Juana sings
softly to Coyotito part of the family song. Kino looks at them and thinks that "this is safety, this is warmth, this is the
Whole."
Kino sees a movement near the
hanging box where Coyotito sleeps. A scorpion moves slowly down the rope supporting the box. Kino thinks of the Song of Evil,
the music of the enemy, as the Song of the Family cries plaintively. Kino stands still, ready to grasp the scorpion, but Coyotito
shakes the rope and the scorpion falls on him. Kino reaches to catch it, but it falls onto the baby's shoulder and strikes.
Kino grabs the scorpion and kills it as Coyotito screams in pain. Juana begins to suck the puncture to remove the poison.
Having heard the baby's screams,
Kino's brother, Juan Tomas, and his fat wife Apolonia enter with their children. Juana orders them to find a doctor. The doctor
never comes to their cluster of brush houses, so Juana decides to go to the doctor herself. The event becomes a neighborhood
affair, for Juan Tomas and Apolonia accompany them and even the beggars in front of the church follow Juana as she marches
toward the doctor. Kino feels weak as he approaches the doctor's home, for the doctor is not of his race and thus believes
that Kino's people are simple animals.
Kino tells the doctor's servant
that his child was poisoned by a scorpion. The doctor is a fat man who longs for civilized living. Although the doctor is
at home, he refuses to treat Coyotito unless he knows that he has money. The servant asks if Kino has money, and when he can
only offer small seed pearls, the servant tells Kino that the doctor has gone out. Kino strikes the gate with his fist, splitting
his knuckles.
Analysis
The Pearl takes place among an impoverished
Mexican-Indian community in La Paz. Although the story involves
essentially only this couple, Steinbeck uses Kino and Juana as symbolic of the community in which they live. Steinbeck constructs
Kino as an everyman with concerns typical of persons of all social stations. As shown by his encounter with the scorpion,
Kino is a devoted father who dotes on his infant son and adores his wife. Quite importantly, as the story begins Kino is perfectly
content with his situation, despite his lack of material possessions and difficult existence. As Kino watches his family,
he believes that this is the "whole," the entirety of everything he really needs. This is significant, for this early contentment
contrasts with the later panic that Kino and Juana will feel once they receive hope for a better future. Juana, whose name
even translates into ?woman,' symbolizes a feminine ideal that complements Kino's masculine prototype.
Nevertheless, despite the serene
description with which Steinbeck begins The Pearl, he also establishes that this existence is a precarious one; Coyotito's
encounter with the scorpion illustrates this possibility of danger that the family faces at all times and brings into focus
the magnitude of their poverty, showing that their poverty places a tangible price on their existence that Kino may not be
able to pay. The scorpion is a symbol of the furtive dangers that threaten Kino and his family, able to strike furtively at
any moment. It is therefore analogous to the other enemies that will threaten Kino and Juana: the scorpion secretly enters
the house and strikes at them indirectly, instead of presenting a direct and open challenge to them.
The critical situation that
Kino's family faces is significant to show the great importance of the fortune that Kino will receive, for it provides not
only the possibility of material goods but may buy the life of his child. Kino's encounter with the doctor sharply illustrates
this, as the doctor essentially allows Coyotito to die because Kino cannot pay for treatment.
Although Kino and Juana are
representative of the larger community in which they live, this community itself becomes significant in terms of the development
of the story. This village takes on a character of its own; this is shown in particular when Juana and Kino visit the doctor
and their neighbors follow in a near procession. These nameless villagers serve as a form of chorus on the action of the story,
commenting on the developments and judging the decisions and events that occur to Kino. The idea of community is also significant
in terms of the various songs that Kino remembers. These songs are entirely symbolic, meant to place Kino in the larger, less
personal context as a member of a community with a sense of heritage and to reinforce his status as an everyman. The two songs
that Kino remembers during this chapter, the Song of the Family and the Song of Evil, also place the story in a context with
diametric opposites; the story is largely a parable with defined parameters of good and evil.
Steinbeck uses the doctor who
refuses to treat Coyotito as a symbol of the forces of oppression that Kino and Juana face. The doctor represents the societal
system that places a monetary value on human life, as well as the obstacles that Kino and Juana face. The racial divide between
the doctor and Kino plays a considerable role in his refusal to treat Coyotito; although this aspect of the story is not omnipresent,
this presents an additional element of adversity that Kino and Juana must endure.
In this chapter, Steinbeck
foreshadows eventual changes in Kino's character when he smashes his fist on the doctor's gate. This event shows that Kino
reverts to violence and anger when confronted with adversity, yet when he does so he hurts only himself.
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 2
Kino and Juana walk slowly
down the beach to Kino's canoe, the one thing of value that he owns. The canoe is old, bought by Kino's grandfather, and is
the source of food for Kino. It is their most important possession, for "a man with a boat can guarantee a woman that she
will eat something." Coyotito still suffers from the scorpion bite: the swelling on his shoulder continues up his neck and
his face is puffed and feverish. Juana makes a poultice from brown seaweed. This poultice is "as good a remedy as any and
probably better than the doctor could have done."
Kino and Juana get into the
canoe so that Kino can find pearl oysters that may pay for the treatment for Coyotito. Kino dives for pearl oysters, where
he thinks of the Song of the Pearl That Might Be and the Song of the Undersea. Kino works steadily under the water until he
sees a large oyster lying by itself with its shell partly open, revealing what seems to be a massive pearl. Kino forces the
oyster loose and holds it tightly against him.
When Kino comes up for air,
Juana can sense his excitement. Kino opens the various oysters he had caught, leaving the largest one for last. He worries
that the large pearl he saw was merely a reflection, for "in this Gulf of uncertain light there were more illusions than realities."
Finally, Kino opens the oyster to see a rich, perfectly curved pearl. Juana lifts the poultice of seaweed from Coyotito to
see that the swelling has begun to recede. Kino puts back his head and howls, causing the men in other canoes to look up and
race toward Kino's canoe.
Analysis
Steinbeck continues to detail
the extreme poverty in which Kino and Juana live; not only can they not afford their own canoe so that Kino may perform his
job as a pearl diver, they must use a canoe that is several generations old. This is important, for it gives greater weight
to the discovery of the pearl, which could raise them from a meager existence into some sense of security.
The canoe is a symbol of Kino's
heritage, a relic passed down from his grandfather, but it also represents Kino's role as a provider for his family. Steinbeck
generalizes the statement that a man with a canoe can ensure that his wife will never go hungry to illustrate Kino's status
as an everyman and to emphasize the distinct roles and duties of a husband and father.
The life that Kino and Juana
lead is also an antiquated one; when the doctor refuses to treat Coyotito, Juana relies on primitive methods to cure her son.
Steinbeck does not offer a sharp critique of these methods. Instead, he finds them more than adequate to the task and perhaps
better than the treatment that the doctor might offer. In this novel, Steinbeck gives greater emphasis and value to traditional
behaviors and even primitivism over modern conveniences and, in particular, those who have those luxuries.
Kino's occupation as a pearl
diver demonstrates the small chance that he and his family have for success. Pearl diving is a largely fruitless task that
relies on the small chance for finding suitable oysters undersea and generally offers only the bare sustenance that maintains
Juana and Kino. In effect, pearl diving is an act of desperation that further bolsters descriptions of Kino's poverty. It
is the only hope that Kino and Juana have.
Nevertheless, Kino immediately realizes that he has found an impressive pearl when he finds the oyster during his dive,
leaving this large oyster as the final one to be opened. This creates a sense of tension and anticipation, as Kino realizes
the significance of the pearl he has found. Steinbeck even bolsters the idea of fortuitous chance by juxtaposing the discovery
of the pearl with Juana's realization that Coyotito has been cured, thus linking these two events, both of which provide great
hope for Kino and Juana. However, even upon the discovery of the pearl Steinbeck foreshadows the later difficulties that might
occur. Kino reverts to animalistic behavior once he finds the pearl, literally howling in joy. The pearl causes Kino to revert
to instinctual behavior, a change that will have dangerous and disastrous consequences
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 3
The news of the pearl travels
fast through Kino's small village. Before Kino and Juana return home, the news had already spread that Kino had found "The
Pearl of the World," as it comes to be known. The local priest learns, as well as the doctor who refused to treat Coyotito.
When the doctor learns, he tells the patient that he is treating that he must treat Coyotito for a scorpion sting. All manner
of people grow interested in Kino, and the news stirs up something infinitely black and evil. The pearl buyers consider how
they might deal with Kino and offer him the lowest possible price.
However, Kino and Juana do
not know the anger and bitterness they have engendered. Juan Tomas asks Kino what he will do now that he has become rich,
and Kino answers that he and Juana will be married in the church. Kino envisions how he will be dressed, and sees Coyotito
in a yachting cap and sailor suit from the United States.
Kino then imagines buying a rifle. Thinking of the rifle breaks down barriers for Kino, as he imagines the whole lot of things
that he might have. He thinks that Coyotito will go to school and learn to read. He claims that "my son will make numbers,
and these things will make us free because he will know?he will know and through him we will know."
The priest visits Kino and
Juana, and tells them that he hopes that they will remember to give thanks and to pray for guidance. The doctor also visits,
and although Kino tells him that Coyotito is nearly well, the doctor claims that the scorpion sting has a curious effect that
comes later and if he is not treated he may suffer blindness or a withered leg. Not sure whether or not the doctor is telling
the truth, Kino nevertheless lets him see the baby. The doctor takes a bottle of white powder and a gelatin capsule, and gives
Coyotito a pill. The doctor tells them that the medicine may save the baby from pain, but he will come back in an hour to
check on him. After the doctor leaves, Kino wraps the pearl in a rag and digs a hole in the dirt floor where he conceals the
pearl.
When the doctor returns, he
gives Coyotito water with ammonia and tells Kino that the baby will get well now. Kino tells the doctor that he will pay him
once he has sold his pearl. The neighbors tell the doctor that Kino has found the Pearl
of the World and will be a rich man. The doctor suggests that Kino keep the pearl in his safe, but Kino says that he has it
secure. The doctor realizes that Kino will likely look to the place where it is stored, and sees his eyes move to the corner
where he had buried it. After the doctor leaves again, Juana asks Kino whom he fears, and he answers ?everyone.'
That night, Kino thinks that
he hears noises in his hut. He grabs his knife and strikes out in the dark. The person scurries out. Juana tells Kino that
the pearl is evil and will destroy them. She tells him to throw it away or break it, for it will destroy them. Kino says that
the pearl is their one chance, and that the next morning they will sell the pearl.
Analysis
As the titular object of the
novel, the pearl that Kino discovers can symbolize several different ideas or themes. In this chapter, Steinbeck equates the
pearl with hope for the future, for it is the means by which Kino and Juana will be able to provide for Coyotito and give
him a better life. The pearl also represents a sense of freedom by enabling Kino to educate Coyotito and give him the ability
to choose his own profession and way of life apart from the deterministic poverty of his parents. Although the story takes
place in Mexico, Steinbeck equates this with the American dream of fortune
and prosperity; Kino imagines Coyotito dressed in clothes from the United
States.
The discovery of the pearl
causes a sharp change in the villagers' reactions to Kino and Juana, for the once unimportant couple become renowned and notorious
in La Paz. The pearl gives Kino great importance within La Paz, as demonstrated by the visit from the local priest and the doctor
who had just recently refused treatment to Coyotito. However, with this newfound interest in Kino comes the impending feeling
of hatred and hostility for him; the discovery causes an anonymous bitterness toward Kino for his great luck, a feeling that
he and Juana cannot realize. The hostility directed toward Kino and Juana takes two forms; the first is a general jealousy
from the community toward Kino for his luck, while the second is a more specific greed shown by those who wish the pearl for
themselves. Steinbeck illustrates this avarice through both the priest and the doctor. In the former case, the priest gives
attention to Kino merely as a means to gain some of the money to the church, shamelessly asking Kino to monetarily compensate
God for the good fortune he has received.
In the latter, the doctor's
newfound interest in Kino stems from a manipulative and dangerous greed. His visit to Kino reveals that he not only wishes
to secure part of Kino's new fortune through the salary the doctor might receive for treatment but, as shown by the doctor's
attempt to locate the pearl in Kino's hut, that he intends to steal the pearl. Steinbeck makes clear that the doctor does
not visit Kino to cure his son; in fact, he indicates that the doctor's treatment of Coyotito might even be superfluous. The
suspicious designs of both the doctor and the priest indicate that the danger that Kino faces is not from jealous neighbors
who might use the pearl to escape their own poverty, but rather from those whose economic situation is secure and who merely
desire greater luxury. Steinbeck thus uses the community reaction to the pearl as social commentary that critiques the ruling
class for avarice and exploitation.
The manipulative behavior of
the doctor foreshadows greater calamities that Kino and Juana will suffer, which Steinbeck also shows through the anonymous
thief who attempts to steal the pearl that night. However, Kino's and Juana's problems are not merely external forces, but
are equally internal. Throughout the chapter, Kino and Juana evolve significantly. At first, neither can vocalize the changes
that the pearl will make for them, but once they think of the tangible consequences for their newfound fortune they begin
to articulate previously impossible and unimaginable dreams. However, Kino and Juana diverge in their later reactions to the
pearl. Juana disavows the consequences of the fortune they will receive, finding the scorn and danger that others present
to be an insurmountable evil. Kino uses the animosity and danger as reason for suspicion and paranoia, as shown when Kino
strikes randomly with his knife when he fears an intruder. He lapses into the instinctual animalism demonstrated in the previous
chapter, a quality that will play a significant role in the tragedy to come.
Steinbeck also foreshadows
the trouble that Kino will find with the pearl buyers. In his description of the pearl buyers, Steinbeck claims that, although
there are many of them, they are essentially one. This aligns with the idea of segments of the community as a collective that
permeates The Pearl; as Steinbeck describes the town, it is like "a colonial animal" with its own emotion, essentially a person
in itself. The neighbors who comment on the action are not individuals, but rather symbols of their class. Even Juana and
Kino exist less as fully-formed individuals and as archetypal representations of man and woman. The pearl buyers, anonymous
except for their identity as part of a class, symbolize the ruling elite of La Paz
who can exploit Kino.
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 4
In La Paz, the entire town knew that Kino was going to sell the pearl that day. Kino's neighbors
speak of what they might do with the pearl. One man says that he would give it as a present to the Pope, while another said
he would buy Masses for the souls of his family for a thousand years, while another thought he would distribute it among the
poor of La Paz. Everyone worries that the pearl will destroy Kino and Juana.
Before leaving to sell the
pearl, Juan Tomas warns Kino and Juana to get the best price for the pearl, and tells him how their ancestors got an agent
to sell their pearls, but this agent ran off with the pearls. Kino had heard the story told as a warning of punishment against
those who try to leave their station. Kino and Juana, followed by neighbors, reach the offices of the pearl buyers.
The pearl dealer inspects the
pearl and tells him that his pearl is like fool's gold, for it is too large and valuable only as a curiosity. Kino cries out
that it is the Pearl of the World, and no one has ever seen
such a pearl. The dealer offers a thousand pesos, to which Kino says that it is worth fifty thousand and the dealer wants
to cheat him. The dealer tells Kino to ask the others around him. Kino can feel the evil around him as other dealers inspect
the pearl. One dealer refuses the pearl altogether, while a second dealer offers five hundred pesos. Kino tells them that
he will go to the capital. The dealer offers fifteen hundred pesos, but Kino leaves with the pearl.
That night, the townspeople
argue whether Kino should have accepted the money, which was still more than he would have ever seen. Kino buries the pearl
again that night, and remains terrified at the world around him. Juan Tomas tell Kino that he has defied not only the pearl
buyers, but the whole structure of life, and he fears for his brother. Juan Tomas warns him that he treads on new ground.
Juan Tomas reminds Kino that his friends will protect him only if they are not in danger, and tells him "Go with God" before
he departs.
In the middle of the night,
Kino feels a sense of evil from outside of his brush house, and he prepares to wield his knife. Kino steps outside to see
if there are prowlers. Juana can hear noise from outside, so she picks up a stone and steps out of their hut. She finds Kino
with blood running down his scalp and a long cut in his cheek from ear to chin. Juana once again tells Kino that the pearl
is evil and they must destroy it. Kino insists that he will not be cheated, for he is a man.
Analysis
Steinbeck begins the chapter
with the reactions of the people of La Paz, who propose what
they might do if they were to find a pearl of such great value. Their reactions reveal a sense of animosity toward Kino, for
the great plans for charity that these people suggest contrast with the seemingly self-interested ideas that Kino proposed
in the previous chapter. This is important to show the undercurrent of criticism for Kino. Steinbeck suggests the jealousy
that people have for his good fortune. Additionally, the idealistic and charitable ideas that people propose reveal a simplistic
attitude toward receiving such a great fortune; as Steinbeck has shown and will continue to show, Kino and Juana do not face
easy decisions with regard to their newfound fortune, and in fact may be in serious danger.
The pearl dealer, who symbolizes
the ruling elite classes, proves to be another example of a manipulative professional man akin to the priest and the doctor.
He shamelessly attempts to cheat Kino out of his money, offering a price that seems far too low for such a pearl; although
there remains the possibility that the pearl may be an oddity with little practical value, the numerous attempts to steal
the pearl, perhaps instigated by the pearl dealers, suggest otherwise. Kino's refusal is no small feat; as Juan Tomas declares,
he has defied the structure of life around him. This places the parable in a larger political context, suggesting that a hierarchy
around Kino works to exploit him and others of his station and resists any attempts to shift this social order. This idea
is bolstered by the story concerning the pearl agent in which punishment is inflicted upon those who attempt to secure a better
station for themselves.
However, although Kino repudiates
the idea that punishment should be inflicted on those who reach for higher social status, Steinbeck has conflicting ideas
concerning this idea. Although Steinbeck is quite sympathetic to Kino and Juana, casting them as the protagonists of the story
in comparison to the greedy, manipulative and one-dimensional villains such as the doctor and the pearl buyers, the very structure
of the story seems to suggest that Kino and Juana will pay a great price for their aspirations. For finding the pearl and
attempting to sell it, Kino and Juana are physically threatened, suffer a silent condemnation from their neighbors, and are
besieged by opportunists, while they were content in their poverty, a situation which Kino thought was "the whole."
Steinbeck continues to demonstrate
that the pearl has more detrimental consequences for Kino and Juana than benefits. Only two days after having found the pearl,
Kino has suffered two robbery attempts and has been assaulted once. These threats against Kino strengthen his resolve, however,
causing him to obstinately fight for the pearl and revert to brutal behavior. The attacks against Kino are an affront to his
masculinity, as shown by his constant avowal that he is a man and thus cannot be cheated. This helps to illustrate the definition
of masculinity that Steinbeck deals with throughout The Pearl. While earlier the idea of masculinity meant providing for one's
family, for Kino it now encompasses receiving just and respectful treatment.
Juana serves as the lone voice
of reason, continuing to warn Kino of the disastrous consequences of the pearl. As Kino becomes more and more consumed by
his paranoia and impulses, it is Juana who remains maintains a realistic appraisal of the effects of the pearl. For Juana,
the pearl represents a great evil and suffering, a sharp change from the sense of hope and freedom that it originally symbolized.
The irony of this situation is notable: the pearl that would secure prosperity and stability for Kino and Juana instead offers
them only pain and danger.
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 5
Kino senses movement near him,
but it is only Juana who arises silently from beside him. Kino sees her near the hanging box where Coyotito lay, and then
watches her go out the doorway. Kino begins to feel a great sense of rage as he hears her footsteps going toward the shore;
Juana is going to throw the pearl back into the ocean. Kino chases Juana, then strikes her in the face with his clenched fist
and kicks her in the side. He then turns away from her and walks up the beach. Juana knows that when Kino said that he is
a man, he meant that he was "half-insane and half-god" and knows as a woman that "the mountain would stand while the man broke
himself; that the sea would surge while the man drowned in it."
While walking on the beach,
men accost Kino in search of the pearl, which is knocked from his hand and lands on the pathway. Juana soon sees Kino limping
toward her with a stranger whose throat has been slit. She finds the pearl for Kino, and tells him that they must go away
before daylight. Kino says that he struck to save his life, but Juana says that this does not matter. He orders her to get
Coyotito and all of the corn they have. Kino finds his canoe with a splintered hole in the bottom. He rushes home to find
Juana and Coyotito, but Juana tells Kino that their house was torn up and the floor dug, and someone set fire to the outside.
Juana and Coyotito go to Juan
Tomas and Apolonia. When Kino tells about the man he has killed, Juan Tomas says that it is the pearl and he should have sold
it. Kino begs his brother to hide them until nightfall. Kino tells Juan Tomas that he will head north. Kino says that he will
not give up the pearl, because "if I give it up I shall lose my soul."
Analysis
Steinbeck builds a sense of
paranoia and imminent tragedy for Juana and Kino during this chapter, in which anonymous enemies threaten their safety. The
men who attack Kino are never named and their origins are never revealed; although Kino suspects that they are the agents
of the pearl dealers. This anonymity is significant, for the men who assault Kino symbolize a more generalized ?evil' than
the specific villainy of the pearl dealer or the doctor.
This continues the string of
various calamities that occur to Juana and Kino; they lose their boat and their home while defending themselves. These two
losses are significant, for the canoe symbolizes the ability that Kino has to provide for and protect his family and the home
symbolizes the idea of the family that once gave Kino great comfort. By this point in the story, Juan Tomas joins Juana in
warning Kino of the problems of the pearl, but Juana's predictions of disaster have already been partially fulfilled. When
Juan Tomas tells Kino "go with God" when Kino prepares to venture to the capital, this statement has a sense of impending
doom; Steinbeck makes it very clear that a tragic end for Kino and Juana is imminent.
Steinbeck also makes the explicit
point that the greatest damage caused by the pearl is the change that it effects within Kino. The caring father and partner
of the first chapter at this point in the story attacks Juana when she attempts to take the pearl. Juana realizes the change
in her husband from a normal man to one with a questionable grip on sanity. It is ironic that, when Kino declares that he
is a man, he begins to act "half insane and half god," thus negating the qualities that define him as a man. Steinbeck creates
a tone of futility about Kino's enterprise; as the rational and level-headed Juana realizes, Kino is a man raging against
an obstacle as insurmountable as a mountain or a storm, and his struggles will only cause him to destroy himself.
Kino even finds himself capable
of murder to defend himself; whether Kino is capable of a more cold-blooded killing still remains questionable. Kino's comment
that the pearl has become his soul is the defining statement of his condition. It shows that Kino has ceased to be in some
level human; he cannot consider normal human needs and emotions, but defiantly focuses on the pearl.
The reaction of the community
to the tragedies that occur to Kino and Juana is significant. While the neighbors followed every detail of Kino's life once
the pearl promised to bring him fortune and renown, during this time his neighbors remain silent. Only Juan Tomas and Apolonia
hide Juana and Kino but do so reluctantly. While Kino's neighbors have commented on all of the events in previous chapters,
they do not manifest any reaction to the attacks on Kino and Juana.
Summary and Analysis of Chapter 6
As Kino and Juana travel northward,
Kino feels a sense of exhilaration along with his fear. They walk all night and rest during the day so that they may not be
found, and attempt to cover their tracks so that they cannot be followed easily. Kino warns Juana that "whoever finds us will
take the pearl," but Juana wonders whether the dealers were right and the pearl has no value. Kino says that they would not
have tried to steal it if it were not valuable. Kino repeats what they will have once they sell the pearl: the church wedding,
the rifle, education for Coyotito.
When they stop to rest during
the day, Juana does not sleep and Kino stirs as he dreams. When they hear noises from the distance, Kino orders Juana to keep
Coyotito quiet. While Juana hides, Kino moves through the brush to see what he heard, and notices in the distance three bighorn
sheep trackers, one of whom is on horseback. Kino realizes that if the trackers find them, he must leap for the horseman,
kill him and take his rifle. As the horseman passes by Kino, he does not notice him. Kino and Juana both realize that if the
trackers find them, they will kill them to get the pearl.
Kino and Juana escape into
the mountains, not bothering to cover their tracks. Kino orders Juana and Coyotito to leave him, for he can go faster alone,
but she staunchly refuses. Kino and Juana take a zigzag path in order to thwart the trackers, and eventually find a small
stream and the entrance to a cave. Kino tells Juana to hide in the cave, and he fears that Coyotito will cry, alerting the
trackers.
While hiding in the cave, Kino
finds that the trackers are by the stream. So that he will not be seen, Kino takes off his white clothing and stealthily creeps
near them as they rest. The trackers can hear Coyotito, but think that it is merely a coyote pup. As the tracker prepares
to shoot what he thinks is a coyote, Kino approaches the trackers and pounces on them. He grabs one of the trackers' rifle
and shoots him between the eyes, and stabs another with his knife. The third tracker escapes up the cliff toward the cave,
but Kino shoots him. Kino stands silently and hears nothing but the cry of death. Coyotito has been shot.
Kino and Juana arrive back
in La Paz; he carries a gun while she carries her shawl with
a limp, heavy bundle. Their return to La Paz becomes a notable
event: "there may e some old ones who saw it, but those whose fathers and whose grandfathers told it to them remember it nevertheless.
It is an event that happened to everyone." Juana appears hardened and tight with fatigue. Kino thinks of the Song of the Family,
which has become his battle cry. As they return to La Paz,
nobody speaks to them and even Juan Tomas cannot bear to say a word. Kino and Juana approach the gulf, and in the surface
of the pearl Kino remembers seeing Coyotito lying in the cave with his head shot away. Kino throws the pearl into the ocean.
Analysis
The final chapter focuses primarily
on the hunt for Kino and Juana as they try to escape La Paz
and reach the capital so that they can sell the pearl. Steinbeck creates the sense that Kino and Juana are followed at all
times. Pursued by bighorn sheep trackers, Juana and Kino are literally hunted like animals. The division between man and animal
is an important motif throughout this chapter. It primarily relates to Kino's descent from those human qualities he once displayed.
Steinbeck illustrates this
through a number of events, such as when Kino attacks the trackers. In this instance, Kino moves from being capable of murder
for self-defense to a more cold-blooded killing. Kino kills the three men out of fear and instinct and not because of any
tangible threat they pose to him.
Steinbeck also shows the loss
of human qualities within Kino when he crawls naked to find the trackers so that his white clothes will not expose him. He
loses the final vestiges of humanity and society to become even more animalistic. This descent is particularly ironic when
considering the death of Coyotito. Kino behaves as an animal so that he can protect himself and his family, but Coyotito dies
when the child is mistaken for a coyote pup.
Coyotito plays a significant
role in this chapter as a reminder of the serene domestic environment that Kino and Juana once had and as a danger for them.
In the savage wilderness where Kino and Juana find themselves, Coyotito serves as their one reminder of society and civilization.
Coyotito also represents the hope that Kino and Juana have for the future; it is the infant child who will benefit most from
the pearl, according to his parents' plans, and he thus symbolizes the advantages that the pearl may bring..
Once again, Steinbeck keeps
the adversaries who pursue Kino and Juana anonymous in order to preserve their symbolic connotations. The bighorn sheep trackers
may not even be pursuing Kino and Juana; they are more important for how Kino and Juana perceive them than their actual personalities.
Whether or not they are actually a threat, Kino is so assured that they are dangerous that he murders them before they have
a chance to strike.
In contrast to the savage and
brutal Kino, Juana becomes stronger through the suffering she faces. She reveals herself to be dedicated to her husband even
at the most dire moments, demanding that he not break up their family despite the practical advantages. Furthermore, it is
Juana who remains awake at night, guarding Kino and Coyotito as Kino sleeps. Steinbeck juxtaposes Kino with Juana; while the
man becomes more instinctual and animalistic, the woman retains her particularly human qualities. While Kino becomes suspicious
and paranoid, when he looks "for weakness in her face, for fear or irresolution . . . there is none."
The return of Kino and Juana
to La Paz is anticlimactic, yet contains some degree of ironic
horror. Kino returns to La Paz with the one possession that
he desperately wanted, a rifle, but has lost his child and rejects the pearl. His rejection of the pearl fully demonstrates
the horror that the pearl has wrought upon him. Steinbeck constructs Kino's return to La
Paz as an event that brings Kino back to the family-centered ideals with which he began the story,
but his recollection of the Song of the Family has a significant undercurrent of defiance and anger. His family has been destroyed,
yet he clings to that ideal, for it is all that remains for him.
The Pearl is therefore a parable with an uncertain meaning at best and a morbidly determinist
one at worst. The story does seem to warn against attempting to improve one's social situation, recalling Juan Tomas' story
of the pearl agent who stole the townspeople's pearls. Although it seems to indict Kino for his attempts to gain the fortune
that the pearl offers, it offers equal if not greater censure to the elites of La
Paz who attempt to exploit Kino and thwart his attempts to sell the pearl. Even if Steinbeck does not
intend the story to be a critique of Kino for his behavior, the story has a decidedly deterministic viewpoint that implies
that Kino and Juana could do nothing to improve their situation.
Perhaps the most valid critique
that Steinbeck offers in the pearl concerns the effects that the newfound chance for riches has on Kino, who replaces human,
civilized values with an obsessive preoccupation with the pearl and suspicion of those around him. Steinbeck criticizes the
idea that the pearl has become Kino's soul, demonstrating that there are far greater losses that Kino can face. Yet where
the story remains problematic is that the hope that the pearl brings is never tangible; calamities occur nearly immediately
for Juana and Kino, making the pearl into a simple curse for the family. Kino does not choose to sacrifice his fortune; he
chooses to repudiate his pain.
When Kino throws the pearl into the ocean,
he discards a meaningless object. The pearl has no value in the sense that, without Coyotito, the pearl has no power to provide
for a better future for Kino and Juana, who could gain only simple material items from their fortune. Kino's repudiation of
the pearl is an empty event, for he does not make a meaningful sacrifice. He instead rids himself of an unwanted object that
causes him pain. As a parable, The Pearl is an empty one, merely choosing to heap tragedy upon its protagonists and forcing
them into pain and agony without offering them an alternate option or any possibility for hope.
Author of ClassicNote and Sources
Jeremy Ross, author of ClassicNote.
Completed on August 07, 2000, copyright held by GradeSaver.
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl written in 1944.
|
|
