Determination, Recklessness, and Understanding
“Some deep outrage is here. My son must have a chance(59).” In the novella The Pearl the character Kino has many goals. His two main goals are to save his son Coyotito’s life and to be freed from the oppression of the Europeans. Over the course of the story Kino changes, he becomes more determined and reckless in pursuit of his goals, but in the end always knows when he has achieved them or if they are unachieveable.
To begin with, one of the major changes that you see in Kino is his determination. Throughout the story Kino Becomes more determined to achieve his goals. When Kino is saving Coyotito he gradually becomes more bent on save him. “‘The doctor,’ she said. ‘Go to the doctor(10),’” at first
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In the beginning of the story Kino is trying to save Coyotito from dying because of the scorpion sting. We know that he recognizes that Coyotito is healed when, “He looked past the pearl, and saw that the swelling was going out of the baby's shoulder, the poison was receding from its body. Then Kino’s fist closed over the pearland his emotions broke over him. He put back his head and howled. His eyes rolled up and he screamed and his body went rigid(26).” This quote shows that Kino knew that he has achieved his goal of healing Coyotito. Another example of this is, “Kino and Juana were coming back… Kino had a rifle across his arm and Juana carried her shawl like a sack over her shoulder. And in it was a small limp heavy bundle. The shawl was crusted with dried blood, and the bundle swayed a little as she walked… And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away(93).” These quotes show that Coyotito dies and Kino and Juana are coming back to the town, one reason they came back is Coyotito dying, another reason they came back though, is because Kino realizes that he can not achieve his goal of becoming free through Coyotito. These examples show that Kino always knows when he has achieved his goals or can no longer achieve
In the end of the story, Kino realized after Coyotito died because of getting shot, the pearl is worth nothing to him. “If it’s a coyote,this will stop it.” The watcher said as he raised his gun. Kino was in mid-leap when the gun crashed and the barrel-flash made a picture on his eyes.”(pg. 86) He knows the pearl can buy many materials that can support the family but it won't matter because the pearl will not be able to replace their son Coyotito.
This is when he found the pearl that would change his life. When asked what he was feeling in the moment Kino said, “As the melody of the pearl played in my ears, the Song of the Pearl That Might Be, I noticed a pearl that was alone and slightly opened. In this moment I felt hope as a ghostly gleam was coming out from the pearl.” This oyster did in fact contain a perfect pearl, and the family thought things were only going to get better from here, especially when they noticed the swelling in Coyotito’s shoulder
Kino was attacked by mean trying to steal the pearl. He killed one of them in self-defense but Juana tells him that does not matter. He will still face consequences from the townspeople once the body is found in the morning.
Though coyotito was small and had no way of talking or communicating, the pearl brought the most evil to him. He was innocent and unaware, but due to his father’s desires, he was murdered. Kino wanted him to have a chance, he wanted him to go to school, and have an education. “My son will go to school,” he said, and the neighbors were hushed.
I believe that is because Kino thinks that the pearl is worth a lot of money. Therefore, even if Kino had an evil feeling and bad things were happening to him, he still kept moving forward. For example, Steinbeck quotes: “Her arm was up to throw when he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from her. He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side.” (Steinbeck, 59). This quote is related to my thesis statement because Kino is trying to stop Juana from throwing the pearl away in order to move
The difference between Kino at the beginning of The Pearl and the ending is the amount of happiness Kino has. In The pearl on page 89 John Steinbeck states " And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away." At the beginning of the story all Kino had was happiness because he would finally be able to give his son the life he deserved with the fortune that he would obtain from selling the pearl.
When Kino suggests that he goes and Juana hides she refuses. When he commands and says it is his wish she still does not agree. This is the first time she has openly disagreed with Kino and the first time she is taking charge. It shows importance because it is the primary shift of gender roles between the couple even though it is minor. After Coyotito dies in the hands of Juana, Kino is left heartbroken and torn.
The music in Kino?s head represents his conscience in the real world. It warns him of bad by the Song of Evil, it makes him feel good by the Song of the Family, and the Song of the Pearl reminds him of all the things the pearl brought him. In the end, the irony of the story is that even a good person can be lead off course by his feeling of inner responsibility to provide for his family. Kino?s actions are being motivated to raise Coyotito in greatness, which eventually leads to the death of Coyotito (Kino?s greatest loss). Many desires in life can lead to disaster.
At the beginning of the story they both felt content and happy as show in this quote “Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.”. They did not even speak because their understanding was so great. But after Kino found the pearl his relationship steadily deteriorates as shown in this quote “"Kino," she said huskily, "I am afraid. A man can be killed. Let us throw the pearl back into the sea." "Hush," he said fiercely. "I am a man. Hush.”. That shows that as time goes by Kino is acting ruder and harshly to Juana all because of the greed the pearl caused. Another example is "This thing is evil," she cried harshly. "This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us," and her voice rose shrilly. "Throw it away, Kino. Let us break it between stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It has brought evil. Kino, my husband, it will destroy us." And in the firelight her lips and her eyes were alive with her fear. But Kino's face was set, and his mind and his will were set” this quote shows that Juana is becoming increasingly fearful yet Kino is sure this is the way and is willing to do whatever is necessary to become wealthy. This causes a strain between their relation. Finally the worst thing Kino commits is the act of attacked Juana. He is described as a snake hissing at her and hitting her that makes her fall. He even continues to kick her after she has fallen and she accepts it and knows he may even murder her. This shows that Kino has broken all limits of humanity and is being consumed by
In the beginning of the story, it discloses that Kino’s son Coyotito was wounded by a scorpion, and he and his wife Juana took him to a close doctor, who declined healing because they didn’t have money to pay. However, news of Kino finding a valuable pearl fetches out the greed in the doctor and he makes a house call to
family's grass hut. Once there, he makes Coyotito sick so that he may cure the
After traveling long and fighting against the whole world, first with his town filled with people trying to steal it, then fighting for the money, then against himself and finally against the trackers, he was left weak, and there was no more strength to fight anymore. “The people say that the two seemed to be removed from human experience” (Steinbeck 88). His struggles with the pearl have left him dehumanized and stripped of emotions because after so many battles with himself and others, it has ruined the pearl’s value by taking away the shine and leaving a dusty grey as all of his original plans of a wedding, new clothes and an education for Coyotito have turned into memories of traumatic moments. “And in the surface of the pearl, he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away.” (Steinbeck 89). Family was the strongest part of his life because it was Kino’s only power throughout his life, which is why when he returns back to his village, people don’t recognize him as he walks through people unbothered by their staring eyes that glare right through the hollowed soul, making them feel scared. Whether Kino can’t feel anymore or chooses to disconnect himself from that battle is a mystery, but, he is still left as a dehumanized
However, two vibrant changes occur as the story progresses —Coyotito, his son, getting stung by a scorpion and Kino’s discovery of the pearl—broaden Kino’s horizons and outlook on the world. As Kino begins to strive for wealth and education for his son, the simplicity of his life becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence. Kino’s character then falls through a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of corruption and disillusionment. The factors promoting this decline are ambition and greed. Thus, when going got tough for Kinoo and he had to escape town he faced a lot of hardships, since he had to go into hiding and the only immediate help he had was from his brother. This had an adverse effect on his personality as he became increasingly negative, given the way he hit his wife shows how the pearl preoccupied his mind to such a great extent that he grew indifferent to everything else as evil and restlessness eloped him. In addition to these social changes, Kinoo, after attaining the pearl was on the move to gain economic sustenance, but not being able to find the right price to sell his pearl got him feeling even more uncertain and disappointed but he continued to strive and was reluctant to give up because he wanted everything in his reach for his son, who he consequently ended up losing in the
All of the village people suddenly sparked an interest in Kino once he discovered the pearl, “people with things to sell and people with favors to ask. Kino had found the Pearl of the World. . . .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 only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man's enemy” (Steinbeck 23). The pearl does not result in an immediate change in Kino’s personality, but rather how others view him. The pearl symbolizes hope, a trait that Kino previously possessed, but somewhat lost after the incident involving Coyotito’s illness. Kino’s “eyes and voice [became] hard and cold and a brooding hate was growing in him” (Steinbeck 38). At the beginning of the novel, Kino is very optimistic and positive. Therefore, when this hate begins to consume him, it is very unusual, leading us to believe that the pearl has an influence on Kino.
Kino a loving father and husband whom had dreams for his family, as shown in steinbeck’s The Pearl. But fate led him to a pearl of exqwizit magnificence. This pearl assured the dreams he wanted for his family, to marry ied to his wife Juana, and for his son Coyotito to get a proper education. But because of Kino’s obsessive attitude over the pearl it doomed his family to a different path, one with fear, death, and corruption. Juana his loving wife whom was spectacle of what Kino was doing and questioned him “Who do you fear?” (35) Kino answered with “Everyone”(36). You may argue that Kino’s actions are being based on greed therefore greed is responsible for the death of Coyotito and the destruction of the family, I invalidate that argument because greed is an emotion. Greed, is an emotion and emotions cannot control you, you have the ability control your emotions. DO NOT READ THE RED “In my target essay, I argued that emotions can be controlled, in the sense that we can shape or influence which emotions we have, when we have them, and how we experience and express these emotions.”