The Pearl John Steinbeck Character Analysis

One day Kino, a poor fisherman, finds “the greatest pearl in the world” (Steinbeck 10). Consequently, this event sets up a major conflict in the novella, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck. Kino, a poor fisherman, Juana, his wife, and Coyotito, their baby, live in a hut in a city called La Paz located in the Gulf of Mexico. During the novella, Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, causing multiple conflicts. The next day Kino goes fishing and finds a pearl that forever changes him and his family’s life. As a result, Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate the emotions hope, defiance, and despair in Kino’s character. At the beginning of the story, Steinbeck skillfully uses the pearl as a symbol to illustrate the emotion of hope in Kino’s character. First, Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion and is refused medical service due to their …show more content…
Kino then goes pearl diving and spots a ghostly gleam from an oyster and is immediately filled with excitement and curiosity as to what is is. At the same time,Kino hesitates to open the oyster because he believes what he has seen “might be a reflection or an illusion” (10). In spite of this, Juana stays calm and gives little attention towards the pearl hoping to not jinx their luck finding a pearl inside the oyster. At last, Kino inserts his knife into the edge of the oyster shell, and there it was, a pearl. Kino then looks at Coyotito and sees his swelling and hopes he could finally get the help his son needs. Second, once Kino finds the pearl, he dreams of all the new things he can do and get for his family. For example, Kino sees himself “getting married” and “having nice clothes” (12). To