The Pearl Essay

In the book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the author tries to teach us to be happy with what we have, and that bigger isn’t always better. At the beginning of the book, Kino is very happy with what he has. The simplicity of his mornings are his music and he just plays it on repeat. At the end of the book, tragedies have happened and he can no longer be as happy as he once was. All because he got greedy. In this story, Kino finds a great pearl- the size of a seagull’s egg. This massive pearl is so magnificent to Kino’s family because earlier that same day, his son- Coyotito- was stung by a scorpion. Of course, the town’s doctor wouldn’t treat Coyotito. He said that he couldn’t be bothered with a little indian boy. Kino and his family are of another race, and …show more content…
More specifically, xenophobia and racism. Xenophobia is the unreasonable hatred of another person or people, and racism is downgrading someone because of their race. These are two things that Kino’s people have just had to deal with. The doctor wouldn’t treat Coyotito because Kino’s family was of a different race, and they simply couldn’t pay. However, that was before Kino found a gigantic pearl. After that, his family was rich and everyone wanted that pearl. Kino was attacked many times by people who wanted the pearl. Once it is thought to even be the doctor who attacked him. Each time Kino is attacked, the pearl becomes less of a blessing and opportunity for Coyotito to go to school, and more of a curse. Juana- Kino’s wife- had said for a long time that Kino should throw away the pearl, but he never did. It just had too much hope inside of it. After being attacked and scammed too many times, Kino and Juana fled north with their baby, Coyotito. It didn’t keep them safe though. They were followed by trackers, more people who wanted the pearl. After running and hiding in a cave, Kino decided that the only way to escape, was for him to kill the