To_What_Extent_Does_the_Social_Cultural_Context_of_the_Pearl_Influence_the_Life_of_Its_Main_Character,_Kino_

The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, was written in 1947. Originally a movie script the book contains vivid descriptions and strong moral messages. The book is about a native Mexican during the oppression who, when he finds a life changing pearl, becomes greedy and paranoid. This ends with his only son, Coyotito, being shot and killed. At the start of this novella Kino and his family are content with their life , they are part of an ancient tribe that were once songwriters ‘so that everything they saw or thought or did or heard became a song’. In the beginning Kino and Juana sung ‘the song of the family’ showing how happy they were just being. When Kino finds the pearl Juana is trying not to show greed of excitement she sees these emotions in Kino’s eyes and ‘pretends to look away’. Kino tries not to be greedy but still thinks of the great riches he can acquire; ‘pictures formed of the things Kino’s mind had considered in the past and given up as impossible’. Among the list of luxuries are things that are practical and normal today such as an ‘education for Coyotito’ and ‘kneeling at the high altar…being married’ This also shows that the pearl is very much materialistic because even though Kino was content with his life he is also very determined to sell the pearl and break free from the chains of poverty. When Kino sells the pearl he travels into the town where the pearl merchants are, there are three of them however they work for the same person, and this is to give the impression of competition. This is a sign that the merchant is wealthy as he can afford to employ three workers instead of only one. Another sign of the wealth of the Spaniards is the doctor who ate luxuries and had an extravagant existence. This story has a moral and is very much like a parable, the parable of the merchant and the pearl reflects the want to own a grand item as the merchant sells all his belongings to own one pearl. Also the parable, the rich man and Lazarus in which it pictures Lazarus eating the crumbs from the rich man’s table, shows the class divide of the Mexican and the Spanish in that time. In the book Kino becomes greedy and paranoid after he finds the pearl. The first time the pearl is nearly stolen from Kino he hears a sound ‘so soft that it might have been simply a thought’ however he acts on that sound and finds his knife to arm himself from the intruder. He becomes so paranoid that when his wife, rationally, tries to throw the pearl back into the sea he thinks that she is trying to steal it so he beats her and tells her she is stupid. Through out the story Kino lists the things he wants to buy many times over however every time one or two things are dropped until the last and most important remains; Coyotito’s education. He says; “my son will read and open the books, and my son will write and know writing ‘. Kino says that Coyotito will read ‘The great book’, The Bible, and tell his people what is in it. This shows that Kino is intent on Coyotito being an educated leader to the natives and to lead them out of poverty. In Kino’s town all news spreads fast, the town ‘has a nervous system’ and it ‘keeps track of itself’. Even the wealthy Spaniards in the town know pretty quickly of Kino’s pearl. However, does this show a close knit community or one in which they love to gossip' Around that time the Mexicans were at the bottom of the social pile, they were scorned upon and refused good jobs, an education and even health care. They are literally treated like animals; ‘the doctor tells his butler that he is in fact a doctor and ‘not a veterinary’. Kino and his village lived in small brush houses where as the Spanish lived in the town ‘of stone and plaster’. This shows how different their lives were. In the beginning we sympathize with Kino and his family even when he finds the pearl but we loose that feeling when after all the warnings from his friends, his wife and even his brother. In chapter one Kino sees Juana’s ‘determination’ for her first baby to live however this is lost when the tragedy of Coyotito’s death hits us in the end. In ‘The Pearl’ Steinbeck uses strong descriptive words. He uses simple but effective language to put intricate pictures in our minds. This book shows the hardship of native Mexican life during the oppression. It shows how greed and materialism can destroy a content life. Above all it shows the racist attitudes towards the poor Mexicans. So think that if Kino was a wealthy Spaniard and found the pearl would the ending of the book be different'