THE PEARL
John Ernest Steinbeck
THE PEARL
LITERARY FIGURES
CHARACTERES
Kino
The most important character in this novella, Kino is a dignified, hardworking, impoverished native who works as a pearl diver. He is an Indian who lives in a modest house with his wife, Juana, and their dear son, Coyotito, both of whom he loves very much. After Kino finds a great pearl, he becomes increasingly ambitious and desperate in his mission to break free of the oppression of his colonial society. Ultimately, Kino’s material ambition drives him to a state of animalistic violence, and his life is reduced to a basic fight for survival.
Juana
Kino’s wife, after her prayers for good fortune in the form of a giant pearl are answered, Juana slowly becomes convinced that the pearl is in fact an agent of evil. Juana possesses a simple faith in divine powers, but she also thinks for herself. Unfortunately for her and her child, Coyotito, she subjects her desires to those of her dominant husband and allows Kino to hold on to the pearl.
Coyotito
Kino and Juana’s son, who is injured by a scorpion while resting in a hammock one morning. Coyotito is baby as a result, he is helpless to improve his situation and thus at the mercy of those who provide for him. Kino and Juana’s efforts to save him by finding a big pearl with which they can pay a doctor prove to do more harm than good.
Kino’s older brother. Deeply loyal to his family, Juan Tomás supports Kino in all of his endeavors but warns him of the dangers involved in possessing such a valuable pearl. He is sympathetic to Kino and Juana, however, putting them up when they need to hide and telling no one of their whereabouts.
Juan Tomás’s like her husband, Apolonia is sympathetic to Kino and Juana’s plight, and she agrees to give them shelter in their time of need.
He dreams of returning to a bourgeois European lifestyle. The doctor initially refuses to treat Coyotito but changes his mind after learning that Kino has found a great pearl. He shows us the arrogance, condescension, and greed at the heart of colonial society.
The local village priest ostensibly represents moral virtue and goodness, but he is just as interested in exploiting Kino’s wealth as everyone else, hoping that he can find a way to persuade Kino to give him some of the money he will make from the pearl.
The dealers
The extremely well-organized and corrupt pearl dealers in La Paz systematically cheat and exploit the Indian pearl divers who sell them their goods. They desperately long to cheat Kino out of his pearl.
The group of violent and corrupt men that follows Kino and Juana when they leave the village, hoping to waylay Kino and steal his pearl.
SYMBOLISM
Things that we can see but at the same time give us different meanings, we founded the following examples in this interesting Reading.
For us those are the most important SYMBOLISM used across The pearl.
1. The pearl
We thing that the pearl is the most important SYMBOLISM used because it give us different meanings and also is used to show us how the evil and at the same time good are presents in this history.
GOOD
Coyotito is seen by the doctor and recovers from the scorpion sting after Kino finds the pearl.
Coyotito is to get a good education and a chance to have a better life quality.
The pearl represents human dreams of comfort and security for the family.
The pearl represents spiritual purity.
The Music of the pearl rises like a chorus of trumpets to Kino’s ears. The music is sweet and lovely.
EVIL
The doctor has not moral scruples, his greed for the pearl makes him poison Coyotito first before offering him the antidote.
The pearl become an instrument of his death Coyotito is accidentally shot by one of the trackers.
In moments of danger, the music becomes distorted and insane. The music is the signal the writer uses to show us that something is happening.
2. The canoe
Is important because is SYMBOL of the legacy taking about Kino’s father and ancestors.
3. The scorpion
When this SYMBOL appears all the reading change strongly, here we can see the evil reflected in an animal, in this case a scorpion.
Themes
This reading provide us different themes to be analyzed, in consequence we chose two that for our point of view was really interesting and also gave us other view about author’s point of view talking about political and economical issues.
Greed as a Destructive Force
As Kino seeks to gain wealth and status through the pearl, he transforms from a happy, contented father to a savage criminal, demonstrating the way ambition and greed destroy innocence. Kino’s desire to acquire wealth perverts the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck, transforming it from a symbol of hope to a symbol of human destruction. Furthermore, Kino’s greed leads him to behave violently toward his wife; it also leads to his son’s death and ultimately to Kino’s detachment from his cultural tradition and his society. Kino’s people seem poised for a similar destruction, as the materialism inherent in colonial capitalism implants a love of profit into the simple piety of the native people.
Colonial Society’s Oppression of Native Cultures
The doctor who refuses to save Coyotito’s life at the beginning of the novel because Kino lacks the money to pay him represents colonial arrogance and oppression. Snide and condescending, the doctor displays an appallingly limited and self-centered mind-set that is made frightening by his unshakable belief in his own cultural superiority over Kino, and by the power that he holds to save or destroy lives. Steinbeck implicitly accuses the doctor’s entire colonial society of such destructive arrogance, greed, and ambition. The European colonizers that govern Kino and the native people are shown to bring about the destruction of the native society’s innocence, piety, and purity.
Our conceptions:
We made a
couple of meetings to share information about The pearl and sometimes we
conclude the same things, now let’s see our conceptions about the amazing story
narrated by Jhon Steinbeck in a small vile where kino and his wife lives there
without enough benefits as the others members of his community.
First meeting April 11 2012
Today with
Patricia talked about some characteristics or topic that we saw in the first
and second chapter of this book, indentifying some aspects as the evil and the
importance of money in some situations we think necessary to create a little
diary to take notes about the most important moments in the reading, so we
consider that the most relevant event in the first chapter was when Coyotito
was bite by the scorpion who represents the evil in this chapter, also the role
of money as important tool to get primary services as medical attention.
Also was
interesting for us to analyze different aspect that we think are based
fundamental in the plot, so talking about the characters we agree in some cases
that Kino represents a paternal image and his wife is an spiritual woman, those
facts make Coyotito an important person for them, when the baby is bitten by
the scorpion the chapter changes totally.
Second meeting May 02 2012
After finish
read the book we decide to make a last meeting to share some aspects and also
to discuss our conceptions and make a little debate to know what kind of topic
we are going to use in our blog, some of the things that we wrote are perceptions
or things that we think relevant, as a result we decide to implement some tools
as journal vocabulary, literary figures as characters conflicts and some themes
that was interesting and important at the moment of read the book, for us was
interesting the context that Steinbeck show us in his readings because allow us
to recreate all the atmosphere and in this way the reading activity is like a
game or a pleasure.
In general
terms we are so glad to have the opportunity to read this book and give us
different messages in several ways, take into account that money is only a
factor which in some occasion can fix things but sometimes this resource can be used in bad way giving
us consequences sometimes dangerous for us and for our family.
NEW WORDS
Chapter I
1.
“…her
blue head SHAWL over her
nose..” Pag. 2
Definition: SHAWL A piece of fabric worn for women over
the shoulder or head or wrapped around the baby
2. “… a COAL and
fanned it alive…” Pag.
2
Definition: COAL
a combustible black rock
consisting mainly of carbonized
3. ….he SQUATTED down and gathered the blanket…” Pag. 3
Definition: SQUATTED. Crouch or sit with the knees bent and the heels close to
or touching the buttocks.
4. “…cover his eyes from the GLARE…” Pag.3
Definition: GLARE. Shine
with a strong or dazzling light.
5. “…the DETACHMENT
a god…” Pag. 3
Definition: DETACHMENT. The state of being objective or aloof.
6.
“…any FOE in the family….” Pag. 4
Definition:
FOE. An
enemy or opponent.
7. “…between CLENCHED
teeth…” Pag. 4
Definition: CLENCHED With reference to one's fist or teeth
close or press together tightly, in response to stress or
anger.
8. The doctor never came
to the CLUSTER of brush
houses”. Pag. 4
Definition: CLUSTER. A group of similar things or people positioned or occurring closely together
9.
Particularly the BEGGARS from the front of the
church.” Pag. 4
Definition: BEGGARS A person who lives by begging for food
or money
10.
They knew his CLUMSY abortions….” Pag. 6
Definition: CLUMSY. Awkward in movement or performance.
11.
“….lifted it with the
tips of THUMB” …” Pag. 6
Definition:
THUMB.
Press, touch, or indicate with one's thumb.
12. His eyes rested in
puffy little HAMMOCKS.” Pag. 6
Definition:
HAMMOCKS. A wide strip of canvas or rope mesh suspended by
two ends, used as a bed.
13. And he SHUT
the gate quickly out of shame.” Pag. 7
Definition:
SHUT. Confine
or exclude by closing something such as a door.
14. “….at his split KNUCKLES and at the
blood…..” Pag.7
Definition: KNUCKLES.
A part of a finger at a joint where the bone is near the surface.
Chapter II
15. The town lay on a
broad ESTUARY.” Pag. 7
Definition:
ESTUARY .The tidal mouth of a
large river.
16. Fiddler crabs bubbled
and SPUTTERED in their
holes.” Pag. 7
Definition: SPUTTERED . Make a series of
soft explosive e sound.
17.
“….disappeared into a SHIMMER that looked like water.” Pag. 7
Definition: SHIMMER shine with a soft
tremulous light.
18.
“….blotted out others HUNGOVER the whole Gulf”.
Pag.7
Definition: HUNGOVER A severe headache or
other after-effects caused
by drinking an excess of alcohol.
19. “..one section of MANGROVES
stood clear and telescopically defined” Pag.7
Definition: MANGROVES. A tree or shrub which grows in muddy
20. “A COPPER
haze hung over the water,” Pag. 8.
Definition:
COPPER A red-brown metal.
21. “…his
face was PUFFED and
feverish.” Pag. 8
Definition:
PUFFED . Out
of breath.
22. “The water and HISSED with speed.” Pag. 8
Definition:
HISSED .A hissing sound.
23. “Some
tidal FLURRY or until the
oyster. Pag,. 9
Definition: FLURRY . Moved
by sudden gusts of wind.
24.”… his right a HUMMOCK
of rubbly rock..” Pag.9
Definition: HUMMOCK . A
piece of forested ground rising above a marsh
25. “…maybe
pearl SHRILLED in his ears.”
Pag. 10
Definition:
SHRILLED Of a voice or sound,
high-pitched and piercing.
Chapter
III
26.”… the
town of stone and PLASTER.” Pag. 11
Definition: PLASTER.
Brit. an
adhesive strip of material for covering cuts
and wounds.
27. “..to manufacture VENOM,..” Pag. 12
Definition: VENOM
.Poisonous fluid secreted by animals such as snakes
and scorpions.
28. “…NODDED their heads at his wild
imaginings.”Pag. 12
Definition: NODDED
.Signify or express in this way: he nodded his consent.
29. “Kino looked at his neighbors
FIERCELY. Pag. 13
Definition: FIERCELY. Violent or aggressive; ferocious
30. “Thy NAMESAKE tamed the desert” Pag.
13
Definition: NAMESAKE.
A person or thing that has the same name as
another.
31. “Kino SHIVERED
a Little…” Pag. 14
Definition: SHIVERED.
A momentary trembling movement.
32. “Kino felt the rage and HATRED melting…” Pag. 15
Definition: HATRED. Intense dislike.
33. “He was not good at DISSEMBLING…” Pag. 16
Definition: DISSEMBLING. Hide
or disguise one's true motives or feelings.
34. “…he watched with FRANTIC interest..”
Definition: FRANTIC. Distraught with fear, anxiety.
35. “his chocolate and NIBBLED the little fallen pieces…” Pag. 17
Definition: NIBBLED. Eat often in small amounts
36.
“..of AFOOT on dry earth and the
scratch of fingers in the soil.” Pag. 18
Definition: AFOOT . On foot.
37.
“His dark
eyes SCOWLED into the little fire. Pag.19
Definition: SCOWLED. An angry or
bad-tempered expression.
Chapter
IV
38. “.
does not ENDANGER the
ease..” Pag. 19
Definition: ENDANGER. Put at risk or in danger.
39.” his little black VELVET tray,” Pag.19
Definition: VELVET. Soft downy skin that covers a deer's
antler while it is growing.
40. “…the last day of his RAGGEDNESS..” Pag. 21
Definition: RAGGEDNESS. Of cloth or clothes,
old and torn.
41. “…a SLIGHT
slitting of the eyes..” Pag. 22
Definition: SLIGHT . Insult (someone) by treating them without proper respect or attention.
42.” to steal hats and RUMPLE hair.” Pag. 22
Definition: RUMPLE: Give a ruffled or dishevelled
appearance to.
43.” Kino stared into the DIMNESS” Pag. 23
Definition: DIMNESS. of a deep or sombre colour.
44.” Maybe Kino is being a PIGHEADED fool.” Pag.
25
Definition: PIGHEADED. Stupidly obstinate.
45. “The little FLARE of the twig fire” Pag. 26
Definition: FLARE: A sudden brief burst of flame or
light.
46.”.. she said HUSKILY,” Pag. 27
Definition: HUSKILY, Strongly
Chapter
V
47.” he leaped at her and caught her arm and WRENCHED.” Pag. 27
Definition: WRENCHED.” A sudden violent twist or pull.
48. “Their eyes GLANCED neither right,” Pag. 40
Definition: GLANCED Take a brief or hurried look.
49. “…her dead BUNDLE
over her shoulder, “ Pag. 41
Definition: BUNDLE . A
flexible container with an opening at the top.
50.”.. the pearl DRIFTED..” Pag.41.
Definition DRIFTED. Be
carried slowly by a current of air or water
Chapter VII
•
Word: ( Tracked
on page 48 )
Part of Speech: “… Quietly he tracked her”.
Definition: / Tracked /,
persecution, further action
2. Word: jumped on page 48)
Part of Speech: “He jumped at her and caught her arm
and took the pearl”.
Definition: / Jumped/ Launched in attack on someone or something.
3. Word: ( painfully on page 49)
Part of Speech: “… She climbed painfully to her feet
…”.
Definition: / painfully /, feel remorse for
something
4. Word: ( Matter on page 51)
Part of Speech: “… Do you thinks tht will matter?..”.
Definition: / Matter /, refers any topics or issue.
5. Word: ( Knocked on page 52)
Part of Speech: “… And then he saw a great hole knocked
in the bottom..”.
Definition: / Knocked /, remove or
separate.
6. Word: (closely on page
54)
Part of Speech: “… Kino, looking closely, saw deep
worry come into his brother’s eyes..”.
Definition: / closely /, next, immediate in the time or
space.
7. Word: ( sadness on page 54)
Part of Speech: “ Apolonia is sick with sadness..”.
Definition: / sadness /, state mood of affliction.
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