A tale that could be older than time itself, Homer’s “Odyssey” tells the story of the hero Odysseus’ journey back home to Ithaca after being cursed by the god Poseidon. The Pearl, by the same author as Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, is surprisingly similar to Homer’s epic. While one is from America, 1947 and the other is from Greece circa 800 B.C. they both share two common themes that are, that the idea of a hero is one who puts others above himself and that power can lead to lack of self control and bad decisions. The first theme present in both texts is the theme that the idea of a hero is one who puts others above themselves. Odysseus leads a crew of 720 men at the beginning of the epic until it dwindles down to him being the only survivors.
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“In the pearl he saw Coyotito sitting at a little desk in a school… And Coyotito was dressed in a jacket, and he had on a white collar and a board silken tie.” (Steinbeck, 25) This shows Kino is putting others above himself because instead of pawning the pearl for trivial riches he’s gonna use it to make sure his son can have a good education. Kino differs from Odysseus in the way that Kino always puts his family before himself while Odysseus has endangered his men and let his pride get in the …show more content…
Kino’s wife, Juana, always believed that the pearl would bring her family misfortune and when she took the pearl away from Kino he nearly beat her to death on the beach. After the beating Juana thought, “And yet it was this thing that made him a man, half insane and half God…” (Steinbeck, 60). Kino shortly after beating his wife, proceeded to kill a man, disguised himself from a group of people following him by being naked and then those people accidently shot Coyotito. A deadly chain of events all because of the power the pearl had over Kino, proving that power can lead to lack of self control and bad decisions. Kino and Odysseus were in a sense victims to the lust of power, since it left Odysseus alone and Kino
“In the pearl he saw Coyotito sitting at a little desk in a school… And Coyotito was dressed in a jacket, and he had on a white collar and a board silken tie.” (Steinbeck, 25) This shows Kino is putting others above himself because instead of pawning the pearl for trivial riches he’s gonna use it to make sure his son can have a good education. Kino differs from Odysseus in the way that Kino always puts his family before himself while Odysseus has endangered his men and let his pride get in the …show more content…
Kino’s wife, Juana, always believed that the pearl would bring her family misfortune and when she took the pearl away from Kino he nearly beat her to death on the beach. After the beating Juana thought, “And yet it was this thing that made him a man, half insane and half God…” (Steinbeck, 60). Kino shortly after beating his wife, proceeded to kill a man, disguised himself from a group of people following him by being naked and then those people accidently shot Coyotito. A deadly chain of events all because of the power the pearl had over Kino, proving that power can lead to lack of self control and bad decisions. Kino and Odysseus were in a sense victims to the lust of power, since it left Odysseus alone and Kino