The Pearl (1947) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

show spoilers

Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

show spoilers

• Kino: The protagonist, a poor native to the island. He is the one who finds the Pearl of The World.
• Juana: Kino's wife.
• Coyotito: Kino and Juana's only child, a baby boy.
• Juan Tomás: Kino's brother.
• Apolonia: Juan Tomás' fat wife.
• Kino: The main charector in the novel. He is also the protaganist. His main mission at the start of the book was to find a very valuable pearl so he could pay for his sons antipoisen. He found the pearl but then he lost all control and just wanted wealth so he turned very evil until he eventually tossed the pearl into the ocean.
• Juana: Kino's wife and the first person to suggest that the pearl was an evil spirit.
• Coyotito: Add a description of this character.
• The doctor: A disgusting racist pig.
• Juana: Kino's wife and the first person to suggest that the peral was evil.

Quotes edit see section history

• “He had said, "I am a man," and that meant certain things to Juana. It meant that he was half-insane and half-god. It meant that Kino would drive his strength against a mountain and plunge his strength against the sea. Juana, in her woman's soul, knew the mountain would stand while the man broke himself; that the sea would surge while man drowned in it.”

• “And Juana, sitting by the fire-hole, watched him with questioning eyes, and when he had buried his pearl she asked,"Who do you fear?"Kino searched for a true answer, and at last said, "Everyone." And he could feel a shell of hardness drawing over him.”

• “The wind screamed over the Gulf and turned the water white, and the mangroves plunged like frightened cattle, and a fine sandy dust arose from the land and hung in a stifling cloud over the sea. The wind drove off the clouds and skimmed the sky clean and drifted the sand of the country like snow.”

• “"Go with God," he said, and it was like a death. "You will not give up the pearl?"The pearl has become my soul," said Kino. "If I give it up I shall lose my soul. Go thou also with God."”

  Kino and Juan Tomas

• “The ants were busy on the ground, big black ones with shiny bodies and the little dusty quick ants. Kino watched with the detachment of God while a dusty ant frantically tried to escape the sand trap an ant lion had dug for him. He watched the ants moving, a little column of them near to his foot, and he put his foot in their path. Then the column climbed over his instep and continued on its way, and Kino left his foot there and watched them move over it.”

  These two quotations are from Chapter 1 and Chapter 6, respectively.

• “But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on the back by God or the gods or both.”

  This short quotation is from Chapter 2, when Kino prepares to make the dive on which he finds the Pearl of the World.

• “In the pearl he saw Coyotito sitting at a little desk in a school, just as Kino had once seen it through an open door. And Coyotito was dressed in a jacket, and he had on a white collar and a broad silken tie. Moreover, Coyotito was writing on a big piece of paper. Kino looked at his neighbors fiercely. “My son will go to school,” he said, and the neighbors were hushed.Kino’s face shone with prophecy. “My son will read and open the books, and my son will write and will know writing. And my son will make numbers, and these things will make us free because he will know—he will know and through him we will know. . . . This is what the pearl will do.””

  This passage from Chapter 3 describes the moment of Kino’s pivotal decision to direct all his energies toward using the pearl to obtain an education for Coyotito.

• “And the evils of the night were about them. The coyotes cried and laughed in the brush, and the owls screeched and hissed over their heads. And once some large animal lumbered away, crackling the undergrowth as it went. And Kino gripped the handle of the big working knife and took a sense of protection from it.”

  This quotation from Chapter 6 demonstrates how Kino’s relationship with nature has changed, symbolizing his personal and moral downfall.

• ““In the town they tell the story of the great pearl—how it was found and how it was lost again. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man’s mind. And, as with all retold tales that are in people’s hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between anywhere. “If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it. In any case, they say in the town that. . . .””

  This quotation is Steinbeck’s epigraph to The Pearl. In introducing his novella as a legend (he first heard the legend of the Pearl of the World in a Mexican village), Steinbeck sets the tone for the story.

• “It is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has, and one that has made it superior to animals, that are satisfied with what they have.”

• “When Kino was finished, Juana came back to the fire and ate her breakfast. They had spoken once, but there is not need for speech if it is only a habit anyway.”

• “Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught in the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.”

  Kino- the family song

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.

  Highlighted by 134 Kindle customers

• In his mind a new song had come, the Song of Evil, the music of the enemy, of any foe of the family, a savage, secret, dangerous melody, and underneath, the Song of the Family cried plaintively.

  Highlighted by 124 Kindle customers

• Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence. It was as large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world.

  Highlighted by 107 Kindle customers

• The essence of pearl mixed with essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated. Every man suddenly became related to Kino’s pearl, and Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man’s enemy.

  Highlighted by 99 Kindle customers

• He was an animal now, for hiding, for attacking, and he lived only to preserve himself and his family.

  Highlighted by 97 Kindle customers

• Thus it might be that the people of the Gulf trust things of the spirit and things of the imagination, but they do not trust their eyes to show them distance or clear outline or any optical exactness.

  Highlighted by 95 Kindle customers

• She had not prayed directly for the recovery of the baby—she had prayed that they might find a pearl with which to hire the doctor to cure the baby, for the minds of people are as unsubstantial as the mirage of the Gulf.

  Highlighted by 94 Kindle customers

• he hummed under his breath while his right hand practiced legerdemain.

  Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Gulf Coast in Mexico, La Paz

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Greed: The author suggests that greed destroys a person and everyone around them.
• Imperialism: The author suggests that imperialism was oppresive to natives.
• Racial Segregation: The rich people completely segregate themselves from the natives, and call them animals.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communications in the Age of Distractions.

Preceded by Robinson Crusoe, and followed by On the Road.

Preceded by The Razor's Edge, and followed by The Outsider.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. John Steinbeck (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Frank Muller (Reader)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3537.T3234 P4
• Dewey: 813.52

Notes for Parents edit see section history

show spoilers

It is an adventure book, a sad book, and a book about greed...it is probably suggested for middle schoolers and up since Steinbeck can be a very confusing and descriptive writer and since this book has some shocking and possibly terrifying events.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States › Classics › Steinbeck, John
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( S ) › Steinbeck, John
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Psychological & Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Pearl (2001) (IMDb): Staring Richard Harris