Author: John Steinbeck. The Pearl

Author: John Steinbeck

Title: The Pearl

Year of publication: 1947

Time: the story taking time in 1940 I think

Place: the story taking place in La Paz in Baja California

Time lapse: the time lapse is

Main character(s): Kino.

Secondary character(s): Coyotito, his wife juana

Explanation of title: The Pearl itself eventually leads to the devastation of a family. At the outset, Kino envisions a better future the pearl will bring as he wants new clothes for his family and himself, a proper wedding for he and Juana, and a proper education for Coyotito. Before Kino undertakes his plans, friends and relatives of Kino wonder whether it will make or break Kino and his family and people question whether he can achieve these goals because Kino would have to essentially break the rigid social structure

Plot:

Kino, a young pearl diver in La Paz, enjoys his simple life until the day his son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion. The wealthy town doctor will not treat the baby because Kino cannot pay the doctor's fee, so Kino and his wife, Juana, are left only to hope their child is saved. That day Kino goes diving, and finds a great pearl, the Pearl of the World, and knows he is suddenly a wealthy man. The word travels quickly about the pearl and many in the town begin to plot ways to steal it.

While the townspeople plot against Kino, he dreams of marrying Juana in a church, buying a rifle, and sending Coyotito to school so that he can learn to read. Kino believes that an education will free his son from the poverty and ignorance that have oppressed their people for more than four hundred years.

The doctor comes to treat Coyotito once he learns of Kino's pearl, and although the baby is healed by Juana's remedy, the doctor takes advantage of Kino's ignorance. He convinces Kino that the child is still ill and will die without the care of a doctor. The doctor then manipulates Kino into unwittingly revealing where he has hidden the great pearl. Kino moves the pearl when the doctor leaves. That night, an intruder comes into Kino's hut and roots around near the spot where Kino had first buried the pearl.

The next day, Kino tries to sell the pearl in town. The pearl buyers have already planned to convince Kino that the great pearl he has found is worth very little because it is too large. This way they can purchase the pearl for a low price. But when the buyers try to cheat Kino, he refuses to sell the pearl and plans to travel to another city to sell at a fair price. His brother, Tom Juan, feels Kino's plan is foolish because it defies his entire way of life and puts his family in danger. Kino is now on his own, although he doesn't know it yet.

Juana warns Kino that the pearl is evil and will destroy his family, but he refuses to throw it away because it is his one chance to provide a different life for

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