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John Steinbeck Passage

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Respond to Texts “The Pearl”
1) Pick a short passage from the novel that you believe strongly corresponds with a particular theme and critically analyse how Steinbeck uses literary techniques to portray this theme.

The passage I have chosen from the novel is,
“But Juana 's eyes were on him and she could not wait. She put her hand on Coyotito 's covered head. "Open it," she said softly.
All manner of people grew interested in Kino- people with things to sell and people with favors to ask. Kino had found the Pearl of the World. 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, …show more content…

Greed is evident in this passage as once everyone had found out about Kino’s pearl they were all eager to gain fortune from it. In the beginning, life in the fishing village is quiet and people are content. Most everyone works hard and maintains a positive regard for each other. Sometimes food is scarce, but the community is able to make it by pulling together. Then everything changes on the day Kino finds the pearl. Juana is the first to see that the greed the pearl has inspired in others is bringing danger to their family. Of course she wants to get married in a church and send Coyotito to school like Kino said, but she sees a side of her neighbours that she wishes she didn 't know existed. Steinbeck expresses this theme by portraying a willing desire for Kino to succeed and sell the pearl for a profit even after several events that endanger Kino and his …show more content…

3) Greed is one of the major themes of The Pearl. In your opinion, is greed the root of all human evil and suffering? Discuss with references to the novel and a personal connection and/or examples present in popular culture or real life.
Greed is definitely the root of all evil and suffering. At the start of the novella, Kino is a simple man and lives in a brush house along with his wife Juana and son Coyotito. Being a simple man he worships the little things in life, he is very connected with the people and nature, he is particularly connected to his canoe that has been passed down to him from his ancestors. Upon finding the pearl, Kino’s’ life changes for the worse. Kino begins to see his future after acquiring the pearl, he sees himself marrying his wife Juana and moving into the town so they could have a better future and his son can have a good education to not live in the way that they did. Also on his wish list was for his family and himself to wear white clothes because that represents purity and a non-labourer life style, having a rifle was his dream because it puts him on the higher colonial status. Greed still represents the root of evil because ever since he acquired the pearl he has become a more violent man rather than the peaceful and humble person he once was, at one stage his evil resulted in hitting his wife Juana. A good example of greed is in Animal Farm when Old Major describes all the evils the humans force on the animals as due to greed.

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“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 the only person that stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man’s enemy.” (page 23). This quote states that everyone envies Kino and wants the pearl’s wealth for himself or herself. Later in the book, one of these people will try to take the pearl. This will cause Kino to try to protect the pearl at all costs.

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Juana believed that the pearl had evil spirit to it and that it had bad luck. Once all of the villagers knew that Kino found the pearl they became obsessed with trying to get it. Juana feared that the pearl will ruin their son and her family, but Kino pushes her fear aside not caring since he was going to be rich. Throughout the story Kino’s greed became too much for Juana after her family had been attacked and Kino beaten so badly that he was knocked unconscious. Juana tried to take the problem into her own hands and get rid of the pearl, but Kino was so set on being rich he wouldn’t let her and hit Juana until she was knocked unconscious.

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It is now he, not the sellers, who has the power to decide if he is going to sell the pearl or not. As Kino holds the pearl in his own bare hands, he has the courage to say that he is not selling the pearl. He is being cheated by the buyers, and is willing to not sell the pearl in the town, but to even risk his life by travelling to the capital for a higher price...which, would foreshadow Kino’s development of lack of honesty. Kino becomes savage he receives the pearls power. He begins to shows violence towards those he loves to save the pearl: “He stuck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side” (59).

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