John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck wrote an excellent book called The Pearl. In 1992, Penguin Books published the novel read for this report. This story is about a poor fisherman named Kino who tries to find a pearl to take his family out of poverty. However, it will not bring all the hope the protagonist thought it would.

In the beginning a scorpion stings Kino’s son. Then, Kino takes him to the doctor because he thinks the doctor will not come to a poor village. When they arrive, Kino gives some misshapen pearls to the doctor’s servant, which comes back and lies by telling the doctor is out. This first chapter shows big differences between social classes. Also, Kino starts to think that money will solve his problems. Then, angry Kino goes on his canoe and searches for the perfect pearl. He finally finds “the Pearl of the world” (p.21). Now, Kino is sure all his worries will go away. This part shows all the hope fortune can bring. Later, the village knows about the pearl and thinks about how they could benefit from it. Plus, the doctor secretly poisons the baby in order to cure him. Everyone is being selfish and this will become a problem for Kino. During the night, some intruders attack Kino. His wife thinks he should get rid of the pearl but he does not listen to her. This demonstrates how becoming rich is important for him.

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