OVERALL ANALYSES

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Kino

Kino is at first characterized in very simple terms as a man of few wants; he is content
with his family life, proud of his son and his heritage, and satisfied with his meager
living that provides his basic needs. Because he is calm and peaceful, Kino lives in
harmony with nature. He enjoys the simple things around him, including the sounds of
the night, the movements of the ants, the splendor of the sea, his wife lying beside him
on the cot, his child lying in the hammock, and the "little splash of morning waves on
the beach." He and his wife have been together so long that words are unnecessary
between them; they communicate their feelings with signs and music. Kino's music in
the beginning is the "Song of Family." He is a picture of total contentment.

To provide for his family, Kino is a pearl-driver. He works hard each day, weighing
himself down with a stone and repeatedly diving down to an oyster bed. He dreams
about finding a large pearl, but is happy that he can provide food for his family
through his efforts. He is also thankful to have a fine canoe to use in his work; it has
been passed down from his grandfather to his father to him. Kino values the canoe as
a tie to his past and as his "bulwark against starvation."

Kino, though a poor man, is extremely dignified. He is proud of his past, his wife, his
son, his canoe, and his home. He is also aware of his place in society. He realizes that
the "civilized" world of the people in town has no place for him since he is poor and
uneducated. He wants to give his son the opportunity to enter this world and, thus,
dreams of his son getting an education and learning to read. Kino cannot be married in
the church because he cannot pay the priest properly. He cannot get medical help for
Coyotito from the doctor in town because he is poor and cannot pay the medical fee.
In frustration over his situation, Kino bangs on the doctor's gate and hurts his hand.
Throughout the book, the injured hand serves as a reminder of Kino's place in the
poor, native, lower class.

When Kino finds the greatest pearl in the world, he is unprepared to handle the
jealousy and envy generated by his treasure. Kino has never possessed anything more
valuable than his canoe; thus, he is naive about the reactions of other people to
someone's wealth. He looks at the pearl and sees its rare beauty; he also sees it as a
means of providing a proper wedding for Juana and himself and an education for his
son. Other people see the pearl and selfishly want it to bring fortune their way. The
priest sees the pearl as providing a means for getting the needed repairs for his church.
As a result, the priest, filled with hypocrisy, goes to call on Kino. He tells Kino to
thank the Lord for his treasure and to remember his duty to the church (the one that
has refused to marry him and Juana). Then the doctor comes to call on Kino and now
offers to treat Coyotito. In order to ingratiate himself to the owner of the pearl, he first
gives the infant a "medicine" to make him appear sicker. Then the doctor returns and
pretends to cure Coyotito. While at Kino's hut, he tells the Indian that he is worried
about his safety and suggests that he keeps the pearl for him. Through these two
visitors, Kino begins to understand the envy and evil that now surrounds him.

Next Kino must deal with the pearl buyers, who try to trick him out of the pearl. In a
united front, they all tell him the pearl is worthless and offer Kino a ridiculously low
sum. Kino bravely stands up against them breaking native tradition, and refuses their
offer. Instead, he plans to leave the security of his home and go to the capital to sell
his pearl. Before he can leave, he is attacked three times in the darkness of night and
is forced to kill one of his attackers. His canoe is destroyed, and his hut is burned. In
spite of these horrendous events, Kino refuses to part with the pearl. He still naively
believes it is the answer to his dreams and the security for his family. When Juana
tries to throw it back into the ocean, he wrestles the pearl away from her. In his rage
against her actions, he also hits and kicks the woman that he loves. The pearl is
obviously changing him.

When Kino leaves La Paz with Juana and Coyotito, he feels like a hunted animal.
They travel in the darkness of night and leave false trails for the trackers who seek
them. When the trackers finally close in, Kino decides to attack them. He stabs two of
the men and fires a rifle at the third. Ironically, one of the stray bullets hits and kills
his greatest treasure, his son Coyotito. Now Kino accepts that the pearl has produced
only evil effects in his life, and he chooses to get rid of it. After returning to La Paz to
bury his son, he and Juana go to the beach and fling the pearl back into the sea. While
he possessed the "treasure," Kino lost the real treasures in his life, his peaceful
lifestyle, his contentment, his appreciation of nature, his canoe, his hut, and his only
son. It is no wonder that at the end of the book he stands as a bitter and defeated man
who feels he has lost everything.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Juana

Juana is Kino's wife, his helpmate, his strength, and his anchor. Juana is the perfect
wife, who considers her husband to be the most important person in her life. She
always is awake before her husband in order to prepare his breakfast, tend to their
child, and look after her family with total devotion. She is loyal, hardworking, strong,
uncomplaining, and almost subservient in carrying out her domestic duties. When
tragedy strikes, she is levelheaded. When the scorpion bites Coyotito, Juana takes
charge of the situation and hustles her husband and child to the doctor. When her
husband is attacked the first time by people seeking his pearl, she realizes the
destructive powers surrounding the pearl and suggests that Kino get rid of it. When he
is attacked the second time, she takes matters into her own hands, finds the pearl, and
attempts to toss it back into the gulf. Her effort is stopped by Kino, who seizes the
pearl from her and in a rage, strikes her to the ground and kicks her. She accepts the
punishment in a sheepish manner, for she has never needed to stand up to her husband
before. But when he punishes her, she accepts that the pearl is now part of their
existence.

Juana, like the other Indian folk, is quite superstitious. When the scorpion bites her
son, she offers incantations to the gods that ironically ends with a "Hail Mary". When
Kino comes out of the water with the oysters, she persuades him not to open the
biggest one first, for it might seem that they are too eager and, thus, displease the
gods. But Juana uses her primitive knowledge to the advantage of the family. When
Coyotito is bitten by the scorpion, she places a poultice on his shoulder to help the
swelling abate. When the evil forces attack her husband, she knows how to clean his
wounds and gives him a soothing native drink.

Juana's courage, loyalty, determination, innate ability, and strength make her an
interesting character and wonderful wife for Kino.

The Doctor

The doctor is a symbol of hypocrisy and greed in a world where money is what
matters. As a doctor, he should love life and provide healing to all in need. Instead, he
thinks only of wealth, disdains the poor, and shows no love of humanity. When
Coyotito is bitten by the scorpion and Kino and the entire village folk proceed to the
doctor's house, the doctor is sitting in his bed, wearing a silk dressing gown, and
sipping chocolate from a delicate cup. His stout body, his puffy eyes resting in "little
hammocks of flesh," and his mouth, all depict his degenerated style of living. The
memories of his life in Paris, which he calls "civilized living," include how he used to
maintain a mistress and eat in fine restaurants. This despicable man refuses to help the
infant Coyotito because Kino cannot afford to pay his medical fee.
After the hypocritical doctor hears about Kino's pearl, he goes to Kino's house,
pretending to be worried about the child's well- being, when in truth he is worrying
about the pearl. When he is told by the parents that Coyotito is improving, the doctors
tells them that the poison generally strikes inward and that only with his ministrations
can the baby survive. In truth, he gives the infant a formula that makes him seem
really sick. The doctor returns and miraculously "cures" Coyotito, thus hoping to
ingratiate himself to the owner of the pearl. He even suggests that he watch over the
pearl for Kino. Fortunately, Kino resists further interference from the dark force of the
doctor.

The Priest

The Priest is also a hypocrite. Though not entirely evil, he is depicted as a person who
only cares about his rich parishioners. He has refused to marry Juana and Kino, for
they cannot afford to pay the church for a wedding ceremony. Yet when the Priest
hears about Kino's great pearl, he immediately thinks that Kino should give him
money for the needed repair work on his church. To improve his chances of a
contribution from Kino, he calls on the poor Indian, probably for the first time ever,
and warns Kino to give thanks to God for his new treasure. He also reminds Kino that
he has a financial duty to his church, ironic words spoken by the Priest who has
refused to help Kino in the past. The Priest is not portrayed as an immoral character,
only as a selfish, greedy one.

THEMES ANALYSIS

John Steinbeck, with a very simple storyline, develops several deep Themes in The
Pearl. The first theme is that most people are envious of wealth of other people,
especially newly inherited wealth; many people will try to take part of that wealth by
any means possible, both legal and illegal. When Kino acquires the pearl, the
townsfolk grow jealous and plot ways to seize a portion of the riches. The doctor and
priest call on Kino at his humble hut, probably for the first time ever in hopes of
ingratiating themselves and receiving large payments out of Kino's wealth. The pearl
buyers try to swindle Kino out of the pearl, telling him it is worthless and offering a
low sum to buy it. Several "dark forces" sneak into Kino's hut at night and try of steal
the pearl. The trackers hunt Kino down in the mountains in search of the pearl. The
greed and envy of all this people destroy the peace and happiness that Kino has
always known. In the end, Kino decides that the pearl only causes misery and pain
and tosses it back into the sea.

In showing the effects that the pearl has on other people, Steinbeck is also developing
the theme of man's cruelty to his fellow man. The doctor cruelly refuses to treat
Coyotito. The pearl buyers try to cheat Kino out of a fortune. The "dark forces" break
into Kino's house and wound him, destroy his canoe, and burn his hut. The trackers
force Juana and Kino to run through the desert and seek refuge in a cave, where their
young son is accidentally shot. Truly, man can be inhumane to his fellow man.

Steinbeck also points out the cruelty of social classes in the novella. A huge chasm
exists between the poor, native Indians (the have-nots of the lower class) and the well
to do townsfolk (the haves of the upper class). The people in the lower class know and
accept their place on the social scale. They realize that their poverty and lack of
education prevents them enjoying the conveniences of the modern world found in the
town, and they accept this position without a fight. During the course of the book,
Kino challenges the upper class two different times. He seeks the doctor's help when
the scorpion stings Coyotito. As expected, the doctor rejects his pleas; in rage, Kino
strikes the doctor's gate, in an attempt to fight the upper class and all that it stands for.
As punishment, he suffers from an injured hand throughout the book.

When Kino refuses to sell his pearl to the greedy dealers, he again challenges the
modern world symbolized in the town. Again he is punished for breaking with
tradition, for he is pursued by trackers throughout the desert and into the mountains.
The upper class is relentless in its pursuit of what it wants, and will use any means to
obtain it. It is also determined to keep the chasm between themselves and the lower
class