Book Analysis in World Literature by: Olaes, Laurisse Kay Pena, Alexandria Kamille Penascoza, Rodiahlyn

2. “...there are only good
and bad things and
black and white things
and good and evil
things and no in-
between anywhere.”

3. This pearl is like a sin! It will
destroy us. .
Throw it away, Kino. Let us
break it between stones. Let
us bury it and forget the place.
Let us throw it back to the sea.
It has brought evil. Kino, my
husband, it will destroy us.
I will fight this thing. I will
win over it. We will have
or chance. . No one
shall take our good
fortune from us.. Believe
me, I am a man

5. In the early 20th century, when the idea that God
is dead was first introduced into the general
culture, it caused infinite anguish and a great
sense of loss. Writers and artists, and then people
in general began to question the very meaning of
life, and finally arrived at the conclusion that, if
there is no God, life is inherently meaningless.
Objective truth does not exist; all we have to rely
on is our own perspective--our own truth--since
that is all we can see.

6. By the end of World War II, after the
atrocities of the war, it wasn't so hard to
accept the idea that there was no benevolent
God watching over every little sparrow and
life had been thrown away on too large a
scale for people to deceive themselves that it
had any real meaning. Even in the midst of
their joy and relief that the war was over,
the predominant attitude was
disillusionment: "Okay, so God is dead and
life is meaningless. Now what?“

7. Contemporary literature reflects our political,
social, and personal disillusionment.
contemporary literature accepts as given the idea,
handed down from the early 20th century, that
everything we know is dependent on our
perspective. I see things one way, and you see
them another. Thus, since there is no truly
objective observer, there is no such thing as
"Truth." There is only my truth and your truth,
and those can change at any moment with the
addition of more facts.

8. The Pearl is quite different from most of
Steinbeck's other works. While he is a master of
creating interesting stories and complex
characters, he was very disillusioned after World
War II and became more concerned with a more
philosophical approach to figuring out the
meaning of life.

11.  Steinbeck was born in
Salinas on February 27,1902.
 Steinbeck grew up in this
beautiful, fertile California
valley, where he found the
material for most of his
novels.
His mother was a school
teacher in the public school
system of Salinas, California.

12.  He entered Stanford University
in 1920, and even though he
remained until 1925, he never
graduated. In fact, he earned
very few college credits. He did,
however, contribute some
poems and short stories to the
Stanford literary magazine.
 During his formative years,
he played various sports in
high school, worked at many
different jobs, and wandered
around the countryside
observing the phenomena of
nature.

13.  He married Carol Henning

14.  John Steinbeck was the
type of author who liked to
know his material first hand.
 He was not contented to
narrate a story which had
no basis in fact.

18. Juana told Kino to go to town and
get the doctor, but Kino and their
neighbors tell Juana that the
doctor will never come to where
they live, so Juana decided to take
matters into her own hands and
sets off with Coyotito to the doctor.
Kino accompanies Juana, and
many members of the village
follow them to see what will
happen.
Kino is a young Mexican-Indian
pearl diver married to Juana. They
have a baby named Coyotito. Their
lives seem rather peaceful, but
their tranquility is threatened when
a scorpion bites Coyotito.
At the doctor's house, the
doctor's servant told Kino and
Juana that the doctor is not at
home but the truth is, the doctor
is at home but would not help
Coyotito because Kino cannot
pay the doctor as much as the
doctor wants and the doctor is
prejudiced against Kino's race.
Kino goes to work diving in the
Gulf for oysters from his canoe;
Juana tends to Coyotito in the
canoe by applying brown
seaweed to his shoulder, which is
swollen from the scorpion's bite.

19. As Kino is collecting oysters on
the ocean bottom, he spots a
larger-than-usual oyster, collects
it, and returns to the canoe. Kino
does not want to open the oyster
immediately, but Juana prompts
him to open the oyster; when he
does, he finds a pearl the size of a
sea gull's egg. Juana gazes at the
immense pearl.
Kino is immensely
happy about both
the pearl and
Coyotito and yells
loudly enough that
he attracts the
attention of the
other oyster divers,
who race toward
his canoe.
Before Kino reaches home with
his great pearl, the news of his
discovery has already reached his
village and the town. Everyone
fantasizes what he or she would
do with the wealth that the pearl
represents, including the doctor,
who previously refused to help
Coyotito but now says that the
baby is a patient of his.
The priest arrives at Kino and
Juana's hut and tells Kino that
he needs to give thanks for
finding the pearl.

20. The doctor visits Kino and Juana
and tricks them into allowing him
to treat Coyotito even though
Kino knows that Coyotito is
already cured; in fact what the
doctor has done is to make
Coyotito sick so that the doctor
can then cure the baby and get
paid more. Coyotito indeed does
get sick, and the doctor returns
and gives the baby a different
medicine that "cures" the baby.
When the doctor asks Kino for
payment, Kino says that his plan
is to sell the pearl the next day.
The doctor offers to keep the
pearl for Kino, and Kino refuses
the request, but the doctor tricks
Kino into revealing where Kino
has hidden the pearl.
That night, Kino hears someone
in the hut, draws his knife and
strikes out at the figure and
draws blood, but is hit over the
head with a heavy object. Juana
senses that the pearl is evil and
begs Kino to throw the pearl back
into the sea, but Kino refuses,
believing still that the pearl will
give them better lives than they
have.
On the day that Kino is to sell the
pearl, the other divers do not go
diving. Kino and Juana begin the
trip to the pearl buyers, followed
by the entire village. The first
pearl buyer to whom Kino offers
to sell the pearl offers Kino a one
thousand for the pearl, saying
that the pearl is too big and no
one else will buy it.

21. He sends word to the other pearl
buyers in town to come to his
office and appraise the pearl.
500.When the three new pearl
buyers arrive at the first's office,
the three of them have already
planned together what each will
offer Kino. The first two buyers
offered him nothing because they
said that the pearl is priceless
while the third one offered him
Kino, realizing that the pearl
buyers are working together to
get the pearl for the least amount
of money, says that he will go to
the capital to sell his pearl.
The first pearl buyer raises his
offer from one thousand to one
thousand five hundred to buy the
pearl, but it is too late; Kino
leaves. Back in the village, Kino's
neighbors discuss whether or not
Kino should have accepted the
main buyer's last offer.
That night, Kino hears noises
outside the hut and goes outside
to check on what is making the
noise. Juana listens inside the hut
to Kino's being attacked and
rushes out with a brick to help
him, but it is too late; Kino is
bloodied and beaten, and the
attackers have escaped without
Kino being able to identify them.

22. Again, like the previous night,
Juana begs Kino to throw the
pearl back into the sea, but Kino
again refuses to because he
envisions the pearl being sold and
the money being used to fund
Coyotito's education. He resolves
to sell the pearl in the capital.
Later, Juana rises in the dark,
takes the pearl from the hut, and
goes to the beach. Kino follows her
and catches up with her at the
beach just as she is ready to throw
the pearl into the water. He hits
her and saves the pearl from going
into the water, but he is then
attacked by some figures he
cannot identify. The pearl is
knocked from his hands, but he is
able to stab one of his assailants
before he is knocked unconscious.
Juana regains consciousness and
finds Kino lying unconscious, a
dead stranger next to him. When
Kino regain consciousness, Juana
returns the pearl to him from
where she found it lying behind a
rock and tells him that they must
flee the village because he has
killed a man. Juana leaves to
gather their belongings; Kino
goes to check on their canoe and
finds that a large hole has been
smashed into its bottom. As they
approach their hut, they see it
burning in flames. Taking
Coyotito, they go to Kino's
brother's hut and spend the day
hiding there.

23. Kino's brother, Juan Tomás, lets
the other villagers think that Kino
and his family have run away, all
the while gathering provisions for
when Kino and Juana will flee.
Kino continues to believe that the
pearl is not something evil but
instead offers a more promising
future for him and his family.
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito left
their village and headed toward
Loreto. Kino is careful to make
sure that they leave no tracks but
knows that they will be followed
because of the pearl's great value.
Because they are traveling at
night, the next dawn they conceal
themselves and settle down for the
day. Juana and Coyotito fell
asleep, and soon Kino does too.
He is suddenly awakened by
noises, creeps out from where
they are hiding, and sees trackers
who are following them. Once the
trackers pass by the hiding place,
Kino and his family head toward
high mountains. When they reach
the first rise of the mountains,
Kino tries to convince Juana to
hide with Coyotito while he leads
the trackers away, but she refuses
so they head higher up the
mountains to where Kino finds a
stream. There, Kino hides Juana
and Coyotito in a small cave and
makes false tracks up the side of
the mountain, hoping to mislead
the trackers; he then hides in the
cave with his family.

24. The trackers arrive at the spring
and make camp for the night.
Kino, realizing that the trackers
will discover them in the morning,
vows to attack the trackers before
the trackers attack he and his
family. As he moves more closely
to the trackers' campfire, one of
the trackers who is keeping watch
aims his gun toward where he has
heard a cry in the night and fires
his gun; Kino jumps on the
tracker and kills him with his
knife. Kino grabs the dead
tracker's gun and shoots a second
tracker. The third tracker
scrambles away from Kino, but
Kino shoots and kills this tracker
as well. He then notices how quiet
the night is.
This quiet is punctured by the
sounds of Juana's crying;
Coyotito has been killed by the
watcher's gunfire.
Later that day late in the
afternoon, Kino and Juana walk
side by side into town, with Juana
carrying a bundle that contains
the dead Coyotito. People watch
in silence as the two walk silently,
as in a trance. Kino and Juana
reach the beach, where Kino
offers the pearl to Juana to throw
it in the sea. She refuses, telling
Kino that he should be the one.
He cocks his arm and throws the
pearl as far out into the sea as he
can; it sinks to the sandy bottom
among the water plants.

25. The Characters

27. The young Indian pearl
diver who finds the
magnificent pearl and
whose life is greatly
destroyed by this pearl.

28. Kino's wife and faithful partner
in facing out a challenge in
living; an obedient and devoted
woman to her family.
Kino and Juana's infant son; he is
bitten by a scorpion and recovers
miraculously only to be later killed
by a bullet.

30. Kino's brother, advisor, and
his only protector when
Kino is hunted for murder.
Juan's fat wife.

31. A thoroughly heartless, self-seeking
man whose love of money is displayed
when he refuses to help Coyotito
because Kino cannot pay him his fee.
The discovery of the pearl is said to
"put a thoughtful look in his eyes and
a memory of certain repairs necessary
to the church."
They are unnamed in the story, and
as a group, they represent the
corruption and hypocrisy that the
Indians encounter.

32. The setting of The Pearl has a
dreamlike, surrealistic quality. A
small village in La Paz on the
coast of the lower half of the
Baja Peninsula.

33. PLOT
ANALYSIS

35. A scorpion stings Kino’s son and the
doctor refuses to treat him.
- What happened to Coyotito exposed the
characters of the people in Kino’s environment.
This scenario is the root of everything that will
happen in the story afterwards.

36. Kino finds The Pearl of the World.
- The moment Kino found the pearl is also the
moment everything else turned into conflict. The
pearl controlled Kino’s decisions, behavior, and
even his morale just to have it kept. He became
inconsiderate, selfish, greedy, and evil.

37. The pearl-buyers try to scam Kino which
brought him to go out of town. He was
desperately forced to go away from the town
after unknown attackers tried to kill him,
destroyed his boat and burned his house.

38. - When the pearl buyers tried to scam Kino, he
decided to go out of town to find buyers that would
give him the real value of the pearl. However,
strangers attacked them, destroyed his boat, and
even burned his house. This has become the
breaking point of Kino wherein he killed the
attackers and finally decided to leave the town with
his family.

39. Trackers follow Kino and Kino brings
them down.
- Everything intensified when Kino decided to
attack the three armed trackers while two of them
were asleep because he knew they would find
them by the morning.

40. Kino hears a "cry of death" from the
cave .
- Kino killed the attackers, but failed to save
Coyotito from being shot. Everything quieted
down and deafen Kino with Juana’s cry.

41. Kino and Juana return to La Paz. Coyotito
is dead and Kino throw the pearl into the
ocean.
- Kino finally realized where the pearl has
gotten him and decided to throw it back into the
ocean.

43. • Man against himself
In the story, the main antagonist was Kino
himself. It was his greed, his eagerness to
become successful that lead him to be a
selfish man risking his own family’s safety. It
was not the pearl, but the belief that the
pearl would give him fortune that made him
hurt his wife, kill people, and even cost the
life of his son.

44. • Man against Society
It was clearly shown in the story that every
man was interested in the pearl of Kino and
most of them have personal intention for the
pearl. People tried to scam Kino, destroyed
his canoe, burned his house, and even tried
to kill him and his family.

46. With this omniscient point of view, we get the benefit of
hearing multiple perspectives and opinions. The text
spends a lot of time observing, reporting from a
distance on the goings on of the town, but it also gets
us into Kino’s head, Juana’s, the doctor’s, and even the
thoughts of minor characters like the priest.

48. Steinbeck based The Pearl in part on a legend he heard during a six-
week expedition in the Sea of Cortez. Elements of the story, then, have
been passed down as part of folklore – which means the novella itself
belongs to that tradition.
We call it a "parable" because the story is fairly simple in nature
(Man finds pearl; pearl destroys man) but illustrates a larger, moralistic
truth (greed will corrupt and destroy all that is good in the world).
What’s interesting is Steinbeck’s twist on this classic parable in
the light of a more modern topic: the American Dream, which
means his tale is not only parable for the ages, but a parable for
our particular age.

50. Tranquil, Anger and Desire
We definitely get a sense of fatalism reading The
Pearl. The narration declares with removed,
pensive observation that all are greedy, that the
pearl brings evil, that Kino has become an
animal, etc. The mystical, dream-like quality of
the setting complements this well: there is no
urgency or concern here, since the tale is simply a
parable being told by a story-teller.

52. GREED FOR MONEY, POWER,
WEALTH AND SUCCESS
Steinbeck paints an incredibly simplistic
portrait of greed in The Pearl. It is always
evil, it always corrupts, and it brings nothing
but suffering. All competition in this novel is
unhealthy, and everyone is motivated by self-
interest, not concern for others.

54. Pearl- a thing for a good future but because of the
human’s selfishness and un-satisfaction it turned to be a
thing for a bad luck.
Song of the family- plays every time goodness is present
Kino- brave enough to dream for good but he let his
dreaming over rule him, which cause his misfortune.
Doctor- stands the greediness and materialistic behavior
of people
Scorpion- root of the trouble; destruction of simplicity
and innocence
Song of Evil- plays every time danger is sense

56. “Money can't buy happiness“
“Money is the root of all evil”
“The things you own end up
owning you ”

57. There is a lot of moral we can get from this
story…
First, let not the love for money nor material
things own you.
Second, be contented with what you have. Know
your limitations and don’t push your luck.
Third, keep things private. People shouldn’t
know everything that’s happening in your life.

58. Inspiration

59. John Steinbeck La Paz means PEACE in
Spanish
In 1829, it became the capital
of Baja California Sur
Strong pearl diving industry
until 1930’s, when oyster beds
destroyed by disease
Folktale

60. “Again, the kingdom of heavenis like a merchant seeking beautifulpearls,
who, whenhe had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he
had and bought it
The Parable of The Pearl of Great Price was one of the
inspirations of John Steinbeck to write The Pearl. In
the parable, Jesus represents the merchants who had
given all that he had for the great pearl which
represents the Church, the people Jesus saved from
their sins.

61. Steinbeck found a second inspiration for The Pearl in
the tale of a young Mexican boy told in Steinbeck’s Sea
of Cortez. However, the boy in the original form of the
story which to use the pearl to buy clothing, alcohol and
sex. The story contains several similar plot points,
including the rapacious dealers and the attacks on the
boy to find the pearl that would recur in the story’s
final form.
The Pearl of John Steinbeck represents also the value of
the pearl, however in this story, Kino was willing to
give and risk it all, even his family’s peaceful life and
living just to keep the pearl.

62. The

63. Olaes, Laurisse Kay R.
Pena, Alexandia Kamille
Penascoza, Rodiahlyn
IV-8 BEEd
Dr. Heidi B. Macahilig