Stienbeck’s novel the Pearl begins with the
main character Kino awakening. Kino is a Mexican peasant who looks for pearls
in oysters. As his wife wakes up and starts making breakfast, he enjoys his
“family song”. He soon hears the “song of evil” as he puts it; a scorpion is
crawling toward their son Coyotito. Kino tries to reach his son in time but is
to late. I wonder why Stienbeck uses the ideas of songs so much. He makes his
novel about poverty sound like a musical. Maybe he is trying to show how routine
and pleasant Kino’s life is at the beginning of the story. It is also possible that by using songs
that Steinbeck is showing how simple life for Kino is.
Next, Kino takes his son to a wealthy
doctor. The doctor is discontent
with every aspect of his life, and when Kino asks for the doctor’s help and
receives none (because he is poor). Kino then goes pearling in hopes to find a
pearl. As he dives into the sea he hears the song of hope and the song of the
pearl. Through Stienbeck’s use of song we see how important this part of the
book is so that when Kino finds “ The pearl of the world” we as an audience can
better understand why he’s happy. As Kino sees his pearl he starts dreaming of
a better world for his son. With his discovery Kino becomes discontent with his
life of poverty though.
Upon Kino’s discovery news spreads through
the town and the doctor goes to see Kino’s son. The doctor gives Coyotito a
strange white power and claims “ the evil went within”. He also declares it
will soon return. He also tricks Kino into looking towards the corner where he
hid his pearl. Later Kino awakes to find a stranger rummaging through his
house. Kino stabs the intruder and waits until the morning. At this point it’s
apparent that Stienbeck is using his novel to preach his views on wealth. He
paints Kino’s pre-pear life as pleasant and the rich doctor’s life as
miserable. Finally Kino dreams of how money will make him happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment