Key Facts
full title · The Pearl
author · John Steinbeck
type of work · Novella
genre · Parable, allegory
language · English
time and place written · 1944–1945,
California
date of first publication · 1945 (in serial form, where
it was entitled “The Pearl of the World”), 1947 (in
book form)
publisher · The Viking Press
narrator · The anonymous narrator writes as if telling an old
story he or she knows very well. The narrator frequently alludes
to the story's ending and freely describes the inner thoughts and
feelings of various characters. Rather than tell the story in his
own voice, Steinbeck chooses to narrate in a stylized voice recalling
that of a storyteller from a society like Kino's, in which stories
are handed down from generation to generation, eventually losing
their specificities and becoming moral parables, as Steinbeck insinuates
in the opening epigraph, by virtue of sheer repetition.
point of view · The narrator uses third-person, omniscient narration,
meaning he or she not only tells us what various characters think
and feel but also provides analysis and commentary on the story.
The narrator shifts perspective frequently, focusing most often
on Kino but occasionally focusing on other characters such as Juana and
the doctor.
tone · The narrator tells Kino's story to teach a moral lesson,
and so treats Kino above all as a cautionary figure. At the same
time, however, the narrator seems to see Kino as a sort of tragic
hero, and is moved by the human weakness Kino's actions reveal.
The narrator often shows a certain respect for Kino's striving to realize
his ambitions—even while recognizing the mistakes Kino makes and
mourning his ultimate moral downfall.
tense · Past
setting (time) · Unclear, possibly late nineteenth or early twentieth
century
setting (place) · A Mexican coastal village called La Paz, probably on
the
Baja Peninsula
protagonist · Kino
major conflict · After finding a magnificent pearl, Kino seeks to sell
it to acquire wealth. He wishes for his son's wound to heal, and
for his son to obtain an education and become an equal to the European colonists
who keep his people in a state of ignorance and poverty. When he
tries to sell the pearl, however, Kino quickly meets resistance
in the form of other people's greed. Ultimately, his struggle to
acquire wealth places him at odds with his family, his culture,
and nature, as Kino himself succumbs to greed and violence.
rising action · A scorpion stings Coyotito; Kino discovers a great
pearl; Kino's attempts to sell the pearl are unsuccessful, and he
is mysteriously attacked; Kino beats Juana for attempting to discard
the pearl.
climax · Kino kills a man who attacks him for his pearl, an
event that exposes the tension surrounding this object as a bringer
of great evil as well as a chance for salvation.
falling action · Kino and Juana flee the village and find themselves
chased by trackers; Kino fights with the trackers, not knowing that
they have taken Coyotito's cry to be that of a coyote and shot him; Kino
and Juana return to the village and throw the pearl back into the
sea.
themes · Greed as a destructive force; the roles of fate and
agency in shaping human life; colonial society's oppression of native cultures
motifs · Nature imagery, Kino's songs
symbols · The pearl, the scorpion, Kino's canoe
foreshadowing · Coyotito's name; the discussion of “The Pearl That
Might Be”; Juana's prayer for Kino to find a great pearl; Juana
and Juan Tomás's warnings to Kino that the pearl is dangerous
