FREE ESSAY ON THE PEARL BY JOHN STEINBECK

THE PEARL BY JOHN STEINBECK

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious
savages. Evil was exhibited by the doctor who refused to treat Coyotito because his
parents had no money. When the doctor heard of Kino and Juana's fortune in finding the
pearl of the world (722), he boasted that they were patients of his while thinking of a
better life for himself in Paris. Coyotito was healed when the doctor finally came to
their straw hut. He deceived Kino by giving the baby a white powder that made him go into
convulsions. An hour later he came and gave Coyotito the remedy and immediately wanted to
know when he was getting paid. The evil in the pearl had reached the heart of the doctor.
The pearl's evil did not restrict itself to infecting Kino's peers; it also affected Kino
himself. He wanted to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's standard of
living. He had dreams and goals that all depended on the pearl. When Juana wanted to
destroy the pearl, Kino beat her unmercifully: He struck her in the face and she fell
among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...He hissed at her like a snake and she
stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before a butcher. (742) Juana saw
through the outer beauty of the pearl and knew it would destroy them, but Kino's vision
was blurred by the possible prosperity the pearl brought. The malignant evil then spread
to a secret cult known only as the trackers. This corrupt band of ruffians attacked and
destroyed Kino's life. The very night that the trackers learned of Kino's pearl, they
tried to steal it. The next night, Kino was attacked twice, which resulted in Kino
committing murder. After the final struggle of the night, Juana went back to their home
to find more baneful members of the heartless cult rampaging through their belongings to
find the pearl. The end result was Kino and Juana's house going up in flames. The
trackers then committed the cardinal sin, they destroyed Kino's canoe: This was an evil
beyond thinking. The killing of a man was not so evil as the killing of a boat. For a
boat does not have sons, and a boat cannot protect itself, and a wounded boat does not
heal. (744) The trackers annihilated the most important material possession that any
citizen of the community owned, ...for a man with a boat can guarantee a woman that she
will eat something. It was the bulwark against starvation (717). The evil invaded Kino's
life and everyone who knew of it