The Pearl Symbolism

In the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck, many symbols were used. The most important symbol was the pearl. The pearl was very important to Kino. It is an opportunity for Kino to make his life better. But slowly throughout the book, the pearl starts to change, and Kino begins to realize the evil within it. The pearl is an example of how good things can sometimes bring evil with them. Kino lives in a poor Mexican town and when he finds the pearl, he thinks of all the good it can bring. He sees the pearl as an opportunity to make his life better. When he looks into the pearl, he sees his dreams. He says, “‘This is what the pearl will do, ’” (pg. 33). He realizes all the good the pearl can bring and lists the things that he wants from the pearl.

It starts when the priest walks into his house. He usually treats Kino’s people as children and doesn’t take the seriously, but now, he is treating Kino like a king. Kino realizes this and that thinks, “The music had gone out of Kino’s head, but now, thinly, slowly, the melody of the morning, the music of evil, of the enemy sounded, but it was faint and weak. And Kino looked at his neighbors to see who might have brought this song in,” (pg. 35-36) Kino is very suspicious of the priest. But he decides to ignore it. After all, being married in the church was one of his wishes. This is the first time that Kino suspects that the pearl could be more harmful than good. Later that night, someone tried to rob Kino, but was unsuccessful. Juana, Kino’s wife, realizes the pearls evilness and says, “‘This thing is evil…This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us,’” (pg. 50). Juana thinks that the pearl is pure evil and it is not worth keeping. But Kino still keeps the pearl and planed to sell it the next day. Both Juana and Kino realize that the pearl is evil. But unlike Kino, Juana is scared and wants to throw it away. The next day, Kino tries to sell the pearl but is unable to sell the pearl for a fair price, and it makes Kino very angry. So Kino decides to leave town and sell the pearl somewhere

During the night, Kino was robbed again, but this time, he killed the robber. His house was burned down and his boat was also destroyed. Kino knows that everyone is looking for him, and he seeks help from his brother, Juan Tomas. Kino’s brother also realizes the evil that the pearl brought but, when he suggests getting rid of the pearl, Kino says, “‘This pearl has become my soul,’” (pg. 87). This shows that the pearl has changed Kino and that he won’t let it go. Despite all of the destruction from the pearl, he still refused to leave it. Kino leaves his town to go to the capital and sell the pearl there. Then Kino realizes that him, Juana, and Coyotito were being followed by very skilled trackers. Kino plans to kill them and succeeds, but the trackers kill Coyotito. Then Kino finally sees the evil in the pearl. Kino, now sorrowful and hopeless, looks at the pearl one last time and thinks, “the music of the pearl had become sinister and evil in his ears and it was interwoven with the music of evil,” (pg. 94). All of the dreams that Kino saw in the pearl were now twisted. All Kino sees in the pearl is the evil that it brought. All of Kino’s dreams were crushed and he no longer sees the pearl as good. He decides to throw the pearl back into the ocean and end his