a presentation about "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck discussing general information about the book, author, major characters and plot.

1. The Pearl
by: John Steinbeck

2. Outline
 About the Book
 About the Author
 Major Characters
 Plot

3. About the
BookGeneral Information

4. Type of Literary work: Novel
Genre: Parable, Allegory
Time and Place Written: 1944–1945,
California
Date of First Publication: 1945 - in serial
form, where it was entitled “The Pearl of the
World”
1947 - in book form
Publisher: The Viking Press
General Information

5. Setting: Time - possibly late
nineteenth or early twentieth
century (unclear)
Place – La Paz on Baja
Peninsula which is a Mexican
coastal village
Tense: Past
Point of View: Third Person
(Omniscient)
General Information

6. Themes: Greed – a destructive force; All competition in this
novel is unhealthy, and everyone is motivated by self-
interest, not concern for others.
The roles of fate and agency in shaping human life.
Colonial society’s oppression of native cultures.
Family - The Pearl is about pursuing wealth and the
dangers that such an endeavor brings. Because wealth is
so highly valued (for no good reason, the novella
argues), men make extraordinary sacrifices in its name.
Such blind, irrational values can only bring destruction
in this text.
General Information

7. Themes: Good vs. Evil - The family is good; greed is evil. Love
is good; destruction is evil. Oppressive colonization, corrupt
capitalism, and racism all go on the "evil" list, which we have to
say is a tad longer than the "good" one. In this novel, the only thing
that stands outside the clear evil vs. good dichotomy is the pearl
itself – it simply reflects what is around it. That the pearl ends up
reflecting evil is an indication of The Pearl’s grim view of the
world
General Information

8. Themes: Gender - The male is
the leader of the household. He
is dominant, he is the decision-
maker, and the family’s welfare
rests solely on his shoulders. The
female, on the other hand, is
submissive, deferent, and nearly
always silent.
General Information

9. Themes: Man and the Natural World - The natural
world is not to be trusted in The Pearl. The setting is
composed of mirages, dream-like visions that are false
representations of reality. The novel suggests that man
makes what he will of the natural world; it is reflective
in nature, and he sees what he wants to see. That the
pearl itself is a product of the natural world is further
evidence that man can corrupt what was once beautiful
and pure
General Information

10. Themes: Man and the Natural World - The natural world is not
to be trusted in The Pearl. The setting is composed of mirages,
dream-like visions that are false representations of reality. The
novel suggests that man makes what he will of the natural world;
it is reflective in nature, and he sees what he wants to see. That
the pearl itself is a product of the natural world is further
evidence that man can corrupt what was once beautiful and pure.
General Information
Symbols: Pearl
Scorpion

11. About the
Author
“I hold that a writer who does not
passionately believe in the
perfectibility of man has no
dedication or any membership in
literature ”
- John Steinbeck-

12. John Steinbeck
Whole Name: John Ernst Steinbeck Jr.
Born: February 27, 1902
Birth Place: Salinas, California
Father: John Ernst Steinbeck
Occupation: owned a feed-and-grain
store, managed a flour plant and
served as treasurer of Monterey
County
Mother: Olive Hamilton Steinbeck
Occupation: former schoolteacher

13. John Steinbeck
Siblings: three (3) sisters
Childhood Description: shy, but
smart, and formed an early
appreciation for the land, and in
particular California's Salinas Valley,
which would greatly inform his later
writing.

14. Educational Background: In
1919, Steinbeck enrolled at
Stanford University—a decision
that had more to do with pleasing
his parents than anything else.
Over the next six years,
Steinbeck drifted in and out of
school, eventually dropping out
for good in 1925, without a
degree.
John Steinbeck

15. Other works: Cup of
Gold (1929); (1932); To a God
Unknown (1933); Tortilla Flat (1935);
Dubious Battle (1936); Of Mice and
Men (1937); The Long Valley (1938);
and The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
John Steinbeck

16. Characters
Analysis

17. Characters
Kino – protagonist;
motivated by basic drives:
his love for his family,
loyalty to the traditions of
his village and his people,
and frustration at his
people’s oppression at the
hands of their European
colonizers. Kino also
possesses a quick mind and
a strong work ethic, and he
feels a close, pure kinship
with the natural world, the
source of his livelihood.

18. Characters
Juana – wife if Kino; more
reflective and more practical than
Kino; has the presence of mind;
loyal and submissive, obeying her
husband as her culture dictates.
The Doctor – symbolizes and
embodies the colonists’ arrogance,
greed, and condescension toward
the natives, whom the colonists do
not even try to understand.

19. Plot
Major Conflict
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action

20. Major Conflict : After finding a magnificent pearl,
Kino seeks to sell it to acquire wealth. He wishes for
his son’s wound to heal, and for his son to obtain an
education and become an equal to the European
colonists who keep his people in a state of ignorance
and poverty. When he tries to sell the pearl, however,
Kino quickly meets resistance in the form of other
people’s greed. Ultimately, his struggle to acquire
wealth places him at odds with his family, his culture,
and nature, as Kino himself succumbs to greed
and violence.

21. Rising Action : A scorpion stings Coyotito; Kino
discovers a great pearl; Kino’s attempts to sell the
pearl are unsuccessful, and he is mysteriously
attacked; Kino beats Juana for attempting to discard
the pearl.
Climax: Kino kills a man who attacks him for his
pearl, an event that exposes the tension surrounding
this object as a bringer of great evil as well as a
chance for salvation.

22. Falling Action: Kino and Juana flee the village and
find themselves chased by trackers; Kino fights with
the trackers, not knowing that they have taken
Coyotito’s cry to be that of a coyote and shot him;
Kino and Juana return to the village and throw the
pearl back into the sea.

23. The End

24. Book Review
By: Marito, Mary Rose C.
Mangapot, Darren
Prof. Barcelo -Macahilig