The Pearl

In these concluding chapters, Kino continues to succumb to the influence of the pearl, which leads him to physically assault Juana. Following Kino’s attack on Juana, the narrator gives a detailed account of Juana’s perspective. Juana feels that she and Kino need, and perhaps complete, each other. Juana and Kino differ from each other in ways that they consider typical of men and women, whether due to cultural beliefs or personal relationship experience. Juana is more cautious and reasonable, while Kino is impulsive and aggressive. Although Juana does not approve of everything Kino does, she feels a duty to try to save him from himself if she can. While Kino and Juana’s perception of gender roles and the nature of their relationship may seem limiting, it is worth noting the nuance with which Steinbeck endows each character, potentially upending some stereotypes. Juana, for instance, is never hysterical nor irrational; instead, Kino is more commonly overcome by strong emotions.

Kino’s discovery that his canoe was vandalized marks a turning point for his character. Although he is upset, he soon feels a “surge of exhilaration” as his path forward becomes clear (69). From that point until the devastating death of his child, Kino acts with a single-minded determination “for hiding, for attacking, and […] [for] preserv[ing] himself and his family” (69). Though Kino’s intent is good (to protect his family), he still clings to the pearl, even expressing his belief that the pearl is his soul. Kino fails to realize that his two desires are incompatible, setting him on a course towards disaster.

These chapters also offer a closer look at those who seek to take the pearl from Kino. Prior to Chapter 6, Kino’s opponents are generally described in vague terms, as when Juana refers to those who burn their home as “the dark ones” in Chapter 5 (70). Such descriptors show how easy it is for Juana and Kino (and by extension readers) to dismiss those who act in ways they perceive as undesirable as somehow less human. With the appearance of the trackers, the novel reminds readers that even Kino’s opponents have identities and histories. When Kino first sees them from a distance, they are described as “figures” and characterized simply in terms of their profession. At another point, Kino looks back to see the trackers and the man on the horse as mere “dots or scurrying ants and behind them a larger ant” (86). After the trackers catch up to them and as he prepares to attack them, however, Kino observes them eating and talking. Significantly, Kino springs to attack them in the same moment that they unknowingly attack Coyotito, whose name means “small coyote,” thinking that the sound of Coyotito’s crying is coming from a coyote pup; thus, Kino and the trackers view each other as animals, even as the “frantic frightened eyes” of one of the trackers haunt him (92), later appearing in the pearl’s reflection.

Juana and Kino’s disposal of the pearl back into the ocean gives the plot a circular structure but also draws attention to how their lives have changed since they discovered the pearl. Deprived of their home, their livelihood (via the destroyed canoe), and their only son, they are left to begin again with nothing. Despite having less in that moment that at any time prior in the story, they recognize that the pearl cannot restore their former life, nor even hasten a return to normalcy. It is, and always was, an evil thing.