Novella

The Pearl by John Steinbeck captures the way money can have a huge impact on humans and how we, as humans can quickly get caught up in meaningless things and forget our true morals. Kino, the main character gets carried away with the evils of the pearl and later realizes this when it’s too late.

The Pearl is about a family, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito who live in La Paz, Mexico who are relatively poor. They live in brush houses and live off of the money that they make from their canoes. Most of the people in this little town who live in the same area are poor and looked down on by the wealthy. The family goes to get treatment for Coyotito, their son by a doctor who lives on the wealthier side of town due to the scorpion bite that he had gotten; yet they were refused help due to their appearance as well as not having enough money. The doctor is racist and greedy and only agrees to help if they can pay for the treatment. Like many in the town, Kino, the father went out on his canoe to go pearl diving and while this was a rare occurrence, he had managed to find one. This pearl had been special and many referred to it as “the pearl of the world” due to how large it was. Through this, he had managed to hold a lot of money and power. He and his family go on a journey to try and live their dreams by selling this pearl. However, they face many challenges such as almost getting scammed, danger, evil, and Kino losing many of his morals and well as something that had mattered most to him. Kino had lost the reason he was holding onto the pearl and had realized that he had been chasing the wrong thing. The pearl had been powerful enough to both become the source of good and bad.

The novella is a journey filled with many emotions and so as a reader I would recommend this story. In addition, one learns from the story and the series of events. The story is not just an adventure but also has morals and lessons to be learned by others’ mistakes. The story is interesting and although it may be a bit dramatic, it teaches many the importance of remembering to stay true to yourself and to your morals no matter what ends up happening or what great things may come your way.

As John Steinbeck had said in The Pearl, “For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.”

By: Norina Elkarmouty/Grade 9 2021