The PearlBy John Steinbeck
Suzie Janossy
January 15, 2002
Quick Summary
Kino finds a giant pearl. He fears that he will becheated the true price of its worth, and isdetermined to make a journey to another town inorder to sell it. Before he can leave, Kino isplagued by the greed that sweeps through the townupon hearing of his find. He is forced to leavetown after defending his life, at the sacrifice ofanother. In the end he pays the ultimate price forthe pearl, the life of his first born and only son.
Main Themes
•Powerlessness of Individual
•Decision making
Powerlessness of an individual
•The story describes the powerlessness of anindividual in an entrenched system
•What are the structural components to thesystem?
•Answer: Elements of control, Environment,Value Systems
Elements of Control
•Elements of control in action are money andpower
•Money and power keep the system in place
•Examples: Kino is under-quoted whentrying to sell the pearl
Elements of Control cont.
•Community set up: “Have” & “Have Nots”
•“Have nots” are supposed to stay that way
•“Have nots” are not to be blessed with wealth
•Kino, a native, will never be allowed tobecome wealthy because the system is setup to keep the rich rich and the poor poor
Environment
•Victim of racial prejudice
•Not likely to be treated fairly
•Analogus to Nazi Germany in that anordinary person is likely to be at the will ofthose who are in control
•Not a matter of principle or whats right orwrong, it’s a matter of who is in control andhow they want to exercise their power
Environment
•Can you think of an physical environmentalmetaphor for the idea of powerlessness?
Value System
•What is the basis for placing value on apolished grain of sand?
•Is the pearl inherently valuable, or is itsworth dependent upon popular consensus?
•How do different characters’ valuesdetermine their actions in this story?
Powerlessness
•Have you ever felt like you were trapped ina system similar to the one described in thestory?
•Were you alone or with others?
•What did you do about it?
•Looking back, is there anything you wouldhave done differently?
Decision Making
•Kino was in a position of not having a lot ofchoices
•Kino had many opportunities to get rid of thepearl, or take whatever price he was offered butrefused to do either
•What was Kino’s goal?
•Was this a reasonable goal?
•Do you think Kino was thinking rationally? Ormight his thinking have been clouded?
Decision Making
•“A plan is a real thing, and things projectedare experienced. A plan once made andvisualized becomes a reality along withother realities- never to be destroyed, buteasily attacked. Kino’s future was real, buthaving set it up, other forces were set up todestroy it and this he knew, so that he had toprepare to meet the attack.” Page 29
Decision Making
•Having a plan is no doubt important, butyou have to think within your means
•The forces that were going to destroyKino’s plan were in place before he everhad possesion of the pearl
•In some situations, you have to take whatyou can get and maximize your benefit
Final thoughts
•What would you have done if you were inKino’s position?
•Do you feel that a ‘taking what you can get’approach is a valid line of thought?
•Is there anything in modern times that issymbolically equivalent to the pearl?