What is the history in the The Pearl by John Steinbeck?

Answer 1

As far as I know it is fiction. the lead character, Kino is a fisherman and NOT a pearl diver. The story has a sort of Grimm Bros. Frisson against a twentieth century backdrop and this is NOT played for laughs, as with the Disney version of (The Shaggy Dog) where a young man is transformed into a Dog right in front of his horrifed daddy ( Fred Macmurray) There is little if any humor in the Pearl. Up to a point it can be argued it is a male version of the (Hope Diamond) or an anti-good luck charm. Around the time the novel came out ( l947) the Hope Diamond was very much in the news , then owned by the sociality Evelyn Walsh Mclean if I recall correctly. The anti-capitalist idea is common in short stories such as Maupassant"s (The Necklace) and some by O.Henry which were adapted into ,oddly, Superman episodes ( the kid and his grandad"s lost overcoat- which, alas turns out to be full of Confederate money. the twist ending being the kicker. so it goes. I always thought that The Pearl was a male adaptation of the saga of the Hope Diamond.

Answer 2

greed, envy, and evil. Kino's discovery of the pearl didn't bring him wealth and happiness; instead, it brought him troubles, difficulties, death and fear to him and his family life.

Answer 3

When Coyotito, a very young child, is stung by a scorpion, Kino, his father, must find a way to pay the town doctor to treat him. The doctor denies Kino for having no money and it makes him enraged. Shortly thereafter, Kino discovers an enormous, lucid pearl which he is ready to sell to pay the doctor. Everyone calls it "the pearl of the world, " and many people begin to covet it. That very night Kino is attacked in his own home. Determined to get rid of the pearl, the following morning he takes it to the pearl buyers in town. However, the pearl buyers collude together and refuse to pay him what he wants, so he decides to go over the mountains to the capital to find a better price. However, Juana, seeing that the pearl brings darkness and greed, sneaks out of the house late at night to throw it back into the ocean. When Kino catches her, furious, he attacks her and leaves her on the beach. Returning to the house with the pearl, Kino is attacked by an unknown man whom he stabs and kills. Kino thinks the man has taken the pearl, but Juana shows him that she has it in her possession. When they go back to the town, they find their home has been set on fire. Escaping the town, Kino and Juana spend the day hiding in the house of Kino's brother Juan Tomás and his wife and gathering provisions for their trip to the capital city. Only there can they hope to sell the pearl for a decent price. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito leave in the dark of the night. After a brief rest in the morning, Kino spots trackers who are following them. Well aware that they will be unable to hide from the trackers, they begin hiking into the mountains. They find a cave near a natural water hole, where the exhausted family hides and waits for the trackers to catch up to them. Kino realizes that he must get rid of the trackers if they are to survive the trip to the capital. As he prepares to attack, the men hear a cry like a baby's though they decide it's more like a coyote with a litter. One of the men fires his rifle in the direction of the crying, where Juana and Coyotito lie. Kino kills them but realizes that something is wrong; he climbs back up to the cave to discover that the man's shot has killed Coyotito. In the morning, Kino and Juana return to La Paz with Coyotito's dead body wrapped in a sling. No longer wanting the pearl, Kino throws it back into the ocean.

Definatly recommend this book, it's amazing!

Hope that helped xx