The Pearl by John Steinbeck
(warning: spoilers)
I recently finished reading the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck, and I enjoyed reading it very much. The story takes place
in a poor, small fishing town along the coast of an ocean, presumably in the early to mid 1900s. The reader follows the story
of one small family, Kino, the husband/father, Juana, the wife/mother, and Coyoto, the child. The book opens on a calm and
quiet morning in the family's small hut, but quickly, Kino spots a problem; A venomous scorpion is crawling into Coyoto's cradle.
Coyoto sees the scorpion and tries to play with it.
in a poor, small fishing town along the coast of an ocean, presumably in the early to mid 1900s. The reader follows the story
of one small family, Kino, the husband/father, Juana, the wife/mother, and Coyoto, the child. The book opens on a calm and
quiet morning in the family's small hut, but quickly, Kino spots a problem; A venomous scorpion is crawling into Coyoto's cradle.
Coyoto sees the scorpion and tries to play with it.
As Kino reaches for the scorpion, Coyoto shakes his cradle, and it falls onto him and bites him. Kino quickly retracts the
scorpion, obviously to no avail, and Juana tries to suck the venom out. The family realizes the best course of action is to
find the nearest doctor, in a nearby, more affluent part of town. To no surprise, when they arrive and question the doctor, he
demands a high price for treatment, which they obviously cannot afford.
scorpion, obviously to no avail, and Juana tries to suck the venom out. The family realizes the best course of action is to
find the nearest doctor, in a nearby, more affluent part of town. To no surprise, when they arrive and question the doctor, he
demands a high price for treatment, which they obviously cannot afford.
This is where the main story comes in. Kino is a pearl diver, a person who searches the ocean for pearls, so he decides he must
find a pearl that is bigger and better than any one before. He eventually finds it, but it immediately brings the family trouble.
Word about the pearl spreads quickly, and soon enough, an intruder tries to steal it. Juana tells Koto that the pearl is the source
of their newfound misfortune, and wants to throw it away, but Kino does not let this happen. From this point on, things only get
worse.
find a pearl that is bigger and better than any one before. He eventually finds it, but it immediately brings the family trouble.
Word about the pearl spreads quickly, and soon enough, an intruder tries to steal it. Juana tells Koto that the pearl is the source
of their newfound misfortune, and wants to throw it away, but Kino does not let this happen. From this point on, things only get
worse.
The family wants to sell the pearl, so they head to the nearby markets, however none of the shopkeepers want to pay a good price,
so they return back to their town. In the middle of the night, Juana steals the pearl and tries to throw it into the ocean. Kino stops her,
and beats her right on the beach. On his way back, some men approach him and try to steal the pearl from him. He kills one, and
the others run. Juana catches up with him, and as they both return to their hut, they are surprised to see it up in flames. They quickly
resolve to head to the capital to try to sell the pearl. When night falls during the trip, they must find a place to sleep, so they settle
down in a cave, however Kino notices they have been followed, and a group of men have set up camp nearby. Kino, knife in hand,
approaches the group, but a watchman is alerted by a sound and fires a gun towards it. It misses Kino, but, unbeknownst to him, hits
Coyoto in the cave. Kino is able to defeat the men, however in his moment of triumph, he hears Juana shouting and crying after
she has realized what happened to Coyoto. The story finally ends when they both decide to return back to the shore, where Kino,
with all of his might, throws the pearl into the ocean.
My Review:
My favorite aspect of The Pearl was the amazing irony used and created by Kino's expectations of how the pearl would help them
compared to how it actually ended up affecting them. Kino, of course, expected their life to immediately improve immensely,
predicting they would simply sell the pearl and have enough money for Coyoto's treatment, and have enough money leftover for
whatever they want. This starkly contrasts with what actually happened, where in the process of trying to sell the pearl, Kino beats his
wife, their house is burnt down, and their child is shot and killed. One question that came to my mind was whether or not Coyoto was
actually sick and was going to die. In almost every way, the pearl caused them more harm than good.
The most interesting character in The Pearl, in my opinion, was Kino. At first, he seems like a sincere man who just wishes well for
his child, however a critical changing point in his character comes when he finds the expensive pearl, and realizes its extreme value.
At this point, Kino's mind begins to wander beyond just saving Coyoto, to buying expensive stuff. Kino's greed proves to be the main
source of their problems. He goes from being the story's hero to, in some ways, the villain.
I strongly recommend that you read this book if you liked this review, or if you like to read books with a twist, and strong irony.
This book was very short, so I think it is a good read for people who don't like endless rambling within books.
-Ethan Roberts
so they return back to their town. In the middle of the night, Juana steals the pearl and tries to throw it into the ocean. Kino stops her,
and beats her right on the beach. On his way back, some men approach him and try to steal the pearl from him. He kills one, and
the others run. Juana catches up with him, and as they both return to their hut, they are surprised to see it up in flames. They quickly
resolve to head to the capital to try to sell the pearl. When night falls during the trip, they must find a place to sleep, so they settle
down in a cave, however Kino notices they have been followed, and a group of men have set up camp nearby. Kino, knife in hand,
approaches the group, but a watchman is alerted by a sound and fires a gun towards it. It misses Kino, but, unbeknownst to him, hits
Coyoto in the cave. Kino is able to defeat the men, however in his moment of triumph, he hears Juana shouting and crying after
she has realized what happened to Coyoto. The story finally ends when they both decide to return back to the shore, where Kino,
with all of his might, throws the pearl into the ocean.
My Review:
My favorite aspect of The Pearl was the amazing irony used and created by Kino's expectations of how the pearl would help them
compared to how it actually ended up affecting them. Kino, of course, expected their life to immediately improve immensely,
predicting they would simply sell the pearl and have enough money for Coyoto's treatment, and have enough money leftover for
whatever they want. This starkly contrasts with what actually happened, where in the process of trying to sell the pearl, Kino beats his
wife, their house is burnt down, and their child is shot and killed. One question that came to my mind was whether or not Coyoto was
actually sick and was going to die. In almost every way, the pearl caused them more harm than good.
The most interesting character in The Pearl, in my opinion, was Kino. At first, he seems like a sincere man who just wishes well for
his child, however a critical changing point in his character comes when he finds the expensive pearl, and realizes its extreme value.
At this point, Kino's mind begins to wander beyond just saving Coyoto, to buying expensive stuff. Kino's greed proves to be the main
source of their problems. He goes from being the story's hero to, in some ways, the villain.
I strongly recommend that you read this book if you liked this review, or if you like to read books with a twist, and strong irony.
This book was very short, so I think it is a good read for people who don't like endless rambling within books.
-Ethan Roberts
This seems like a very interesting book. The idea of tragic irony is one that I like very much, and Kino's slow descent into antagony is sad but seems to be very well done. I liked that you dove into the expectation vs reality of the pearl and its effects on the family, specifically Kino. Good review.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this book before, but the review makes it seem interesting though somewhat dark. Your summary was concise and engaging, however it seems that stretching the plot over an entire book could get boring. Although I haven't read the book, I'm not sure if I agree that Kino's greed is the main problem. It seems that trying to sell the pearl for a good price is the smart thing to do for his family. Overall, good review.
ReplyDeleteI like how you clearly distinguish the review from the summary of the book, the book title is interesting considering we just dove into Pearls character haha. I really like how you described the character you find most interesting in your review section. your overview of the book is descriptive and thorough without giving away too much information. Good job!
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