The Pearl
written by John Steinbeck
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”The Pearl” is a novella written by the American author John Steinbeck and published in 1947. It takes place in a poor village in Mexico and deals with luck, greed, love and misfortune. It reads like a parable with a wise message that warns against the vicious nature of greed. It´s the story of a good man and a good woman caught in a situation they cannot handle. ”The Pearl” is one of John Steinbeck´s most popular books. Other popular works by John Steinbeck include ”The Grapes of Wrath” , ”Of Mice And Men” and ”East of Eden”.

”The Pearl” is the story of good people caught in a whirlwind of greed and corruption after finding a large black pearl of inestimable value. Kino is a poor fisherman who lives a simple life with his wife Juana and enfant son Coyotito in a small Mexican town. The story starts when he faces racism from the doctor who refuses to help his son after he was bitten by a scorpion. Crisis turns to seemingly good fortune as Kino discovers a large black pearl. It is large and smooth and most likely of great value. This one of a kind pearl is given the name ”the pearl of the world”. At first glance this could solve all of Kino´s financial problems and give his family a better life. However, that is not what happens. What should have been a blessing turns out to be curse that takes everything from Kino. By the time he throws it back in the ocean he has lost everything. His son is dead and his house and boat are destroyed.

In an ideal society (one that we imagine we live in) Kino and his family should have sold the pearl, paid the taxes on their earnings and lived a more comfortable life for at least a while. This is what we expect to happen for people who´ve come across a lot of money. However, this idealism does not take into account all the people that want those earnings for themselves or the people who feel you don´t deserve those earnings. Jealousy, greed and corruption are a few of the problems not considered by most idealists.

In the case of the story, Kino cannot sell his pearl in the local market because the buyers refuse to give him a good price. This violates anti-trust and anti monopoly laws as we know them but that is the situation he faces. Also, people who are supposed to be pillars of the community, like the doctor, cheat them and the local towns people turn envious and gossip.

Basically what was once a moderately nice place to live and raise a family turned into a hostile place he must flee for the safety of his family. Being poor was hard for Kino and his family but being newly rich was dangerous for them. It reminds me of the expression of ”crabs in a bucket”. If you put crabs in a bucket they will drag each other down so none can escape instead of working together like some species of ants would do to escape.

This story also reminds us that money and wealth are not the most important things in life and have no value when compared with our relationships with the ones we love and our health.

( Commentary by www.ink2quill.com )
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