The Pearl is a story about an Mexican Indian man and woman, set in the early to mid-
1900's, in Bolivia. It was written by John Steinbeck as a short fiction book that tells of the
family's life just before, during, and just after find a great pearl. The book was an amazing and
discussed many different ideas. The main idea discussed is whether or not being rich is a good
thing. The story explained how everyone would like to be rich yet being rich has a lot of
unnecessary baggage that goes with it.
There are two major characters in this book. The first is a man named Kino. He is a
Mexican Indian of about 25-30 years. He lives in a fairly primitive village among a similar group
of Mexican Indians. They are a fishing village and also dive for pearls. The second character is a
woman named Juana.
She is his commonlaw wife, mother of his son, and better half. She
supports everything Kino does, and offers advice to him whenever he needs it. They have a son
named Coyotito who plays a minor role in the book but a very major part in their lives.
The book starts with Coyotito getting bit my a scorpion. The families needs to see a
doctor but the doctor won't see them because they have no money. Kino decides to go pearl
hunting in an attempt to get some money. He dives and, after removing some shells, catches a
glimpse of something shiny out of the corner of his eye. He removes the oyster that he saw the
gleam from, and returns to the surface. Inside the oyster he finds a huge pearl that becomes
known as, the Pearl of the World. Almost immediately there after, people try to steal...