John Steinbeck Symbolism

Many people face conflict in their life; but not many people can say they have found the “pearl of the world” or survived multiple attacks from mysterious evils. In the story The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino and his family face many conflicts while trying to protect the pearl from the evil that lurks in the darkness. By showing symbolism, using description, and by informing the reader more than the characters, Steinbeck is able to show the struggle between good and evil. John Steinbeck uses symbolism to represent the conflict Kino is facing, while trying to protect the pearl against the greed of the people attempting to take it from him. For example, Kino has a canoe that he uses to get clams and fish, but it’s more than just a canoe. To Kino, it’s the canoe that his grandfather passed down to his father, who passed it down to Kino. It’s a source of food for his family. Every year he takes care of it exactly how his father did. ‘The killing of a man was not so evil as the killing of a boat. For a boat does not have sons, and a boat cannot protect itself, and a wounded boat does not heal.’ This quote from the text shows how Kino felt when someone tore a splintering hole in the the

The reader can feel what Kino feels because of the words Steinbeck uses. ‘Then from the corner of the house came a sound so soft that it might have been simply a thought, a little furtive movement, a touch of a foot on earth, the almost inaudible purr of controlled breathing. Kino held his breath to listen, and he knew that whatever dark thing was in his house was holding its breath too, to listen.’ In this example, you can really feel that there is something dark and mysterious in the house. Steinbeck uses this type of description many times throughout the book. The descriptive language emphasizes the fact that there is an evil following Kino around and it won't leave until it has the