English 9 Bernard 1

Therran Bernard

April 18, 2019

English 9

Mrs. Peckham

Symbolism in The Pearl

Symbolism is used in many different forms of art and literature. John Steinbeck, the

author of the novella The Pearl, is an American author who was born on February 27, 1902 in

Salinas, California, and died on December 20, 1968. The Pearl is a fictional novella about a

family of three who find a miraculous oddity, and try to seek wealth. The three main characters

are Kino, his wife Juana, and his infant son Coyotito. The Native Mexican family finds a

rediculously large pearl and attempts to seek wealth. But in their quest to seek the lavish life,

they end up getting way more than they bargained for. The pearl symbolizes many things to

different readers, so focusing on just three of the many ideas just barely scratches the surface.

The pearl symbolizes physical and emotional misery. Toward the end of the novella,

Kino looks into the pearl to see the son he had lost the night before, lying on a cave floor. “And

in the surface of the pearl [Kino] saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head

shot away,” (Steinbeck 89). When Kino looks into the pearl right before thrusting it into the

ocean, it shows him his dead son, something that will bring any man to tears. It is almost as if the

pearl is taunting him. The pearl also causes Kino physical misery by making him experience

pain, but not directly. “Blood oozed down from [Kino’s] scalp and there was a long deep cut in

his cheek from ear to chin, a deep, bleeding slash” (Steinbeck 56). On top of the emotional

damage the pearl directly causes Kino, it also indirectly causes him physical damage by

motivating a man to attack him. In this first encounter, the man overcomes Kino. The pearl
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causes Kino misery in showing him something that makes him miserable, and makes him feel

physical pain as well.

The pearl also symbolizes the corruption of Kino. The pearl is making Kino do things he

never would have done without the pearl. “In the moonlight [Kino] could see the frantic

frightened eyes, and Kino aimed and fired between the eyes,” (Steinbeck 87). Kino shoots a man

in the head, even though he was no longer a threat to Kino, and the kind Kino we meet at first

would never have done this. Kino even struck the woman he loves. “[Kino] struck [Juana] in the

face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side”

(Steinbeck 59). Kino has gone to lengths such as striking his wife for trying to get rid of the pearl

when she saw evil in it. The pearl slowly corrupts Kino in the time he has had it, and eventually

turned him into a murderer.

Lastly, the pearl symbolizes insanity. The pearl is a good representation of Kino’s mental

health. When he first finds it, it is white and smooth and beautiful. “It captured light and refined

it and gave it back in silver incandescence. It was large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest

pearl in the world.” (Steinbeck 19). After the events of the novella unfold, Kino’s mental

stability is no doubt damaged, especially after killing three men, hitting his wife, and seeing his

son dead, and knowing he is somewhat responsible. “[Kino] looked into its surface and it was

gray and ulcerous” (Steinbeck 89). The pearl is now ugly and ulcerous, and in it he sees his dead

son. Kino’s mental stability is what you would expect from a normal man in the beginning, but

as his life during the period of the novella goes downhill, every time he looks at the pearl, it is in

worse condition as it was the last time he looked at the pearl. The pearl is symbolic of insanity

because it can be seen to represent Kino’s sanity.

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The pearl is symbolic of three things: insanity, the corruption of Kino, and misery. The

pearl is capable of bringing Kino happiness, sadness, wealth, pain, and it also brings Kino many

enemies. To all the people seeking wealth and popularity, the only thing in the way of that is

Kino. In the beginning, Kino is only thinking of obtaining wealth, and makes all these plans to

spend money and buy all these things. In the end, Kino loses things that money can’t buy and

learns that since he got too greedy, life hit him with a curve ball. Literature is one of the greatest

forms of American art, and John Steinbeck helps prove that with his Nobel Prize winning

novella, The Pearl. The story is important in today’s world because it can be used to show how

money can change even the happiest of people, and to show that wealth can change your life, for

better, or for worse.