The Pearl By John Steinbeck Suzie Janossy January 15, 2002

Quick Summary Kino finds a giant pearl. He fears that he will be cheated the true price of its worth, and is determined to make a journey to another town in order to sell it. Before he can leave, Kino is plagued by the greed that sweeps through the town upon hearing of his find. He is forced to leave town after defending his life, at the sacrifice of another. In the end he pays the ultimate price for the 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 an individual in an entrenched system What are the structural components to the system? Answer: Elements of control, Environment, Value Systems

Elements of Control Elements of control in action are money and power Money and power keep the system in place Examples: Kino is under-quoted when trying 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 to become wealthy because the system is set up 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 an ordinary person is likely to be at the will of those who are in control Not a matter of principle or whats right or wrong, it’s a matter of who is in control and how they want to exercise their power

Environment Can you think of an physical environmental metaphor for the idea of powerlessness?

Value System What is the basis for placing value on a polished grain of sand? Is the pearl inherently valuable, or is its worth dependent upon popular consensus? How do different characters’ values determine their actions in this story?

Powerlessness Have you ever felt like you were trapped in a system similar to the one described in the story? Were you alone or with others? What did you do about it? Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

Decision Making Kino was in a position of not having a lot of choices Kino had many opportunities to get rid of the pearl, or take whatever price he was offered but refused to do either What was Kino’s goal? Was this a reasonable goal? Do you think Kino was thinking rationally? Or might his thinking have been clouded?

Decision Making “A plan is a real thing, and things projected are experienced. A plan once made and visualized becomes a reality along with other realities- never to be destroyed, but easily attacked. Kino’s future was real, but having set it up, other forces were set up to destroy it and this he knew, so that he had to prepare to meet the attack.” Page 29

Decision Making Having a plan is no doubt important, but you have to think within your means The forces that were going to destroy Kino’s plan were in place before he ever had possesion of the pearl In some situations, you have to take what you can get and maximize your benefit

Final thoughts What would you have done if you were in Kino’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 is symbolically equivalent to the pearl?