The Pearl

An Analysis of The Pearl by John Steinbeck

One of the main themes of the novel , The Pearl , which was written by John Steinbeck , is the destructive force of greed . The author presented this concept in a variety of ways in the story such as the use parallelism of the imagery to the characters in the novel , the setting of the story that justifies the characters ' actions , and the sudden transformation of the characters

Basically , the story takes place in depressed Mexican-Indian community in La Paz where the novel 's two main

characters , Kino , a poor pearl diver , and his wife , Juana , live in . While the story revolves mainly around the life of the couple , particularly , Keno , the author used them to symbolize the impoverished state of the community in which they live in . The story begins with Coyotito being stung by a poisonous scorpion When Kino and Juana were unable to treat their son , who was shown to be in extreme pain , they took him to a doctor . However , the doctor , upon learning that the couple did not have any money , turns them away and pretended to be unavailable at the moment

In this part of the story , Steinbeck already showed how greed played an important role in adversely affecting the lives of Kino and Juana through momentarily shifting the focus of characterization . The doctor who is bound by an oath that compels him to help all those who are sick regardless of their economic status , refused to treat the couple 's son because he was greedy and did not want to treat them unless he gets paid with money . The doctor also symbolized the obstacles and oppression that Kino faces in their impoverished community , which was , in a way , used to justify his greedy actions later on in the novel

Moreover , the use of nature 's imagery in the first chapter of the novel generally mirrored Kino 's personality . In the opening chapter 1 , Kino deeply observes the beauty of the garden of his home , which reflects the innocence he only had at the beginning of the novel

After the couple was turned down by the doctor , Kino became desperate but fortunately found a very large and rare pearl in one of his dives The author used this part of the story as a turning point in Kino 's personality . This part of the story also depicted the greed of the other minor characters of the novel such as the priest of La Paz , who agreed to help Kino only after he discovered that he had the pearl , and the doctor , who changed his mind and helped Kino only after he found out that the fisherman was in possession of a rare pearl . Moreover although Kino 's intentions were primarily to buy a cure for his son by selling the pearl , he was blinded by his greed as shown in his desire to sell the pearl only to the highest bidder . Days after he found the pearl , his...