Imagery Of Greed And Evil In John Steinbeck's Novel The Pearl

The novel The Pearl was written by John Steinbeck. This fiction novel was published in 1947. Steinbeck was inspired to write this when he went to La Paz, Baja California Sur. In this, he tries to explain the dangers of greed and evil. Coyotito the son of a man named Kino got bit by a scorpion and got sick. Kino and Coyotito’s mother Jaunita took their son to the doctor. The doctor wouldn’t see their son because of their race, and their inability to pay him the amount he wanted.

So Kino went to find an oyster to pay the doctor with. He came back with a big unusual oyster and inside was a pearl ball. They went to check on their son and saw he was suddenly healed. Before Kino and his family got home the news of the pearl ball had spread to his town. When they got back the doctor wanted to help Coyotito because he knew they had the pearl.

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The doctor tricked them into letting him see Coyotito so he can make him sick then cure him so that they can pay him with the pearl. The doctor tricked Kino into telling him where the ball was. That night the doctor snuck into Kino’s house and tried to steal the ball, but Kino heard the noise and tried to stop it. Someone hit Kino over the head and knocked him out. The next day Jaunita feels like the pearl ball is evil and tells Kino but he doesn’t listen.

Kino thought the pearl ball would give them everything they needed. Finally, he agreed with his wife and went to sell the pearl, but failed. That same night Kino is attacked again and beaten. His wife got the pearl ball the next day and went to the beach to throw it in the ocean but Kino stops her and gets attacked again but kills the man who attacked him. Jaunita tells him they have to flee the village because he killed someone. They go to gather their things and see their hut is burning down. They went out to hide and had people after them. One of the trackers killed their son Coyotito. Juanita and Kino walked down to the ocean and threw the pearl deep off into the ocean.

In this novel, Steinbeck used the pearl to symbolize greed and evil. This pearl shows how materialistic things aren’t always good. Another thing the pearl ball symbolizes is a natural disaster; taking something from its natural place can destroy or change other things around it.