the pearl john steinbeck kino juana abusive relationship

‘For his dream of the future was real and never to be destroyed.’ Confronted by his selfless dreams being greedily denied by others and the pearl’s music exposed to be ‘interwoven with the music of evil’, Kino becomes barbaric and violent. However, the unsuccessful reality of Kino’s ownership of the pearl leads him to alter his reality substantially. ‘And the music of the pearl rose like a chorus of trumpets in his ears … It was the wildest day-dreaming.’ Simile associates the pearl’s wealth and its accompanying anthem with victory the victory of achieving his dreams of being able to protect and sustain his family. Eventually, these dreams extend to the possession of a rifle as ‘humans are never satisfied’. For Kino, the ‘pearl of great price’ initially manifests itself as the opulent catalyst to his elaborate fantasies including new clothes for his family and a proper education for his son. In ‘The Pearl’, Steinbeck highlights the human inability to distinguish dreams and reality, thereby eliminating their capacity to foresee the inevitable psychological consequences that come from attainable dreams. ‘Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone.’ Through the experiences and beliefs of Kino, Juana, the priest and the doctor, the distinct contrast between our perceived dreams and reality are realised. The symbol of titular the pearl acts as a means of achieving dreams but is ultimately the embodiment of harsh realities such as greed.

Steinbeck accentuates how our naïve aspirations are connected to unpleasant actualities by evaluating the superficially idyllic American Dream of wealth in the form of the ‘Pearl of the World’.

John Steinbeck’s allegorical novella, ‘The Pearl’ (1947), effectively communicates the psychological and social transitions that take place when it seems that, by humanity’s ignorance, dreams can be made into reality. Dreams fuel humanity’s intense desires for the seemingly unobtainable whilst reality encourages reason, logic and moral sensibilities.

‘A plan once made and visualized becomes a reality along with other realities – never to be destroyed but easily to be attacked.’ Despite the fundamental dichotomy between reality and dreams, they are often perceived as indistinguishable by humanity.

The pearl john steinbeck kino juana abusive relationship