THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
John Steinbeck was born February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. He dropped out of college and worked
as a manual laborer before achieving success as a writer. His novel The Grapes of Wrath—about the
migration of a family from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California—won a Pulitzer Prize and a National
Book Award. Steinbeck served as a war correspondent during World War II. He died in 1968.
Early Years
John Steinbeck was an American novelist whose books, including his landmark work, The Grapes of Wrath,
often dealt with social and economic issues, was born February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. He was
raised with modest means. His father, John Ernst Steinbeck, tried his hand at several different jobs to keep
his family fed: He owned a feed-and-grain store, managed a flour plant and was the treasurer of
Monterrey County. His mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a former schoolteacher. For the most part Steinbeck, who grew up
with three sisters, had a happy childhood. He was shy but smart and early in his life formed an
appreciation for the land, and in particular California's Salinas Valley, which would greatly inform
his later writing. According to accounts, Steinbeck made the decision at the age of 14 to become
a writer and often locked himself in his bedroom to write
poems and stories. In 1919, Steinbeck enrolled at
Stanford University. But Steinbeck seems to have had
little use for college. He viewed himself strictly as a
writer, and his decision to go to Stanford was made
more to please his parents than anything else. Over the
next six years Steinbeck drifted in out of school,
eventually dropping out for good in 1925 without a degree.
Early Career
Following Stanford, Steinbeck tried to make a go of it as a freelance writer. He briefly moved to New York City, where he found work
as a construction worker and newspaper reporter, but then scurried back to California, where he took a job as a caretaker in Lake
Tahoe. It was during this time that he wrote his first novel, Cup of Gold (1929), as well as met and married his first wife, Carol. Over
the next decade, with Carol's support and paycheck, Steinbeck continued to pore himself into his writing. His follow-up novels, The
Pastures of Heaven (1932) and To a God Unknown (1933) received tepid reviews. It wasn't until Tortilla Flat (1935), a humorous
novel about paisano life in the Monterrey region, that the writer achieved real success. Steinbeck struck a more serious tone with In
Dubious Battle (1936), Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Long Valley (1938), a collection of short stories. What is widely considered
his finest, most ambitious novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was published in 1939. The book, about a dispossessed Oklahoma family and
its struggled to carve out a new life in California at the height of the Depression, captured the mood and angst of the nation during
this time period. At the height of its popularity, The Grapes of Wrath sold 10,000 copies a week. It eventually earned Steinbeck a
Pulitzer Prize in 1940.
Later Life
Following that great success, Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune during World War II. He also
traveled to Mexico to collect marine life with his friend Edward F. Ricketts, a marine biologist. Their
collaboration resulted in the book Sea of Cortez (1941), which describes the marine life in the Gulf of
California. In the last 25 years of his life Steinbeck wrote books including Cannery Row (1945), Burning
Bright (1950), East of Eden (1952), The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), and Travels with Charley: In
Search of America (1962). In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died of
heart disease on December 20, 1968, in his New York City home.
Steinbeck was also very prolific in film. Unlike many writers, he became deeply involved in several
adaptations of his works, forging life-long friendship with such directors as Elia Kazan, writing a few
scripts himself, and spending time helping to rewrite storylines. Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of
Wrath, Tortilla Flat, The Pearl, The Red Pony and East of Eden were all successfully adapted for the
screen and brought him further fame and fortune.
“If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones
that'll help - the only ones.” - Steinbeck
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1962
was awarded to John Steinbeck "for
his realistic and imaginative writings,
combining as they do sympathetic
humour and keen social perception".
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Kino - The protagonist of the novella. Kino is a dignified, hardworking, impoverished native who works as a pearl diver.
Juana – Kino’s young wife.
Juan Tomas – Kino’s older brother. Deeply loyal to his family, Juan Tomás supports Kino in all of his endeavors.
Coyotito – Kino and Juana’s only son.
The doctor – A small-time colonial who dreams of returning to a bourgeois European lifestyle.
The pearl buyers – The extremely well-organized and corrupt pearl dealers who systematically cheat and exploit the Indian pearl
divers who sell them their goods.
The priest – The local village priest ostensibly represents moral virtue and goodness, but he is just as interested in exploiting Kino’s
wealth as everyone else.
Apolonia – Juan Tomás’s wife and the mother of four children.
Trackers – The group of violent and corrupt men that follows Kino and Juana when they leave the village, hoping to waylay Kino and
steal his pearl.
The buyers - The pearl buyers of the town act as if they work for themselves, but they are actually controlled by one man.
SETTING
Set during the colonial era in Mexico, The Pearl takes place in an old, small rural town called La
Paz on the narrow Baja Peninsula which is separated from the mainland of Mexico by the Gulf of
California. The wealthier Spanish-Mexicans in the town are professional people, like the doctor.
The poor Indians of the town work as servants and many others must live near the water. The
exact time period is unclear—possibly the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. It is
important to note that at the time of the novel’s story, the native culture had been oppressed by
its Spanish colonizers for close to four hundred years. Though they sought to maintain
traditional dress, homes, livelihoods, and communal living, the native “Indians” could not
maintain true respect for their heritage in the presence of those who felt far superior.
STEINBECK’S MESSAGE
A parable is a simple story that relays a moral lesson. Frequently, parables are also allegories, stories in which characters, objects,
and events hold fixed symbolic meaning.
BACKGROUND
Many of John Steinbeck’s more socially-aware novels have been tied to a literary movement called Naturalism which grew out of
the Realism movement of the 1870s and 1880s. In realistic literature, the author makes no attempt to hide the hardships or ugliness
of human existence; life is depicted as it really is, but the movement sought only to cover topics associated with middle-class
America or “local color” topics.
The naturalism movement took place between the 1880s and the 1940s largely as a reaction to both World Wars and the Great
Depression. While naturalist literature was, to an extent, not unlike the realist portrayals of society, naturalism also explored such
issues as sexuality and violence, which were formerly considered taboo. In particular, naturalists sought to reveal the lives of
America’s lower-class, often destitute, immigrant populations; this was a dramatic change from the realists who sought only to
depict the hardship of maintaining individualism within the upper class.
The Pearl shares several defining characteristics of literary naturalism, but it is also important to note how Steinbeck’s novel diverges
from traditional naturalist texts.
SCIENCE CONNECTION
Scorpions are eight-legged venomous invertebrates belonging to the class Arachnida, and the
order Scorpiones. They are related to spiders, mites, ticks, and harvestmen as well as other
members of the Arachnida class. They possess an extended body and a segmented, erectile tail
ending with the telson (the sting). There are roughly 1,300 species of scorpions worldwide, and
there are over 70 species of scorpions in the United States. These hardy, adaptable arthropods
have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and they are nothing if not survivors.
There are almost 2,000 scorpion species, but only 30 or 40 have strong enough poison to kill a
person. The many types of venom are effectively tailored to their users' lifestyles, however, and
are highly selected for effectiveness against that species' chosen prey.
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Directions: As we read, you will answer the following questions below and explain yourself thoroughly on your own paper. You will
benefit from this as it will help you keep track of events and peoples’ actions in the story and it will help you review for the test and
essay to come. You will also turn your questions/charts in at the end of the unit for a major grade (counts twice).
Chapter 1
1. What is an oral tradition?
2. Define the word “parable.”
3. Identify each of the following characters below by (1) their relationship to one another and (2) what can be inferred about their
personalities thus far.
a. Kino –
b. Juana –
c. Coyotito –
d. Juan Tomas –
e. Apolonia –
4. Describe Kino’s family’s living conditions.
5. Describe the tragic event that happens to Coyotito (inciting incident).
6. Why did the townspeople believe the doctor would not come to treat Coyotito?
7. Identify two characteristics that can be inferred about the doctor. Cite an example supporting each characteristic.
8. How would you react to the doctor’s refusal if you were Kino or Juana? Why?
SCIENCE CONNECTION
Pearls are the result of a biological process -- the oyster's way of protecting itself
from foreign substances. Oysters are not the only type of mollusk that can
produce pearls. Clams and mussels can also produce pearls, but that is a much
rarer occurrence. Most pearls are produced by oysters in both freshwater and
saltwater environments.
The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the
oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of
like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that
irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same
nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl. So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of
nacre. Most pearls that we see in jewelry stores are nicely rounded objects, which are the most valuable ones. Not all pearls turn out
so well. Some pearls form in an uneven shape -- these are called baroque pearls. Pearls, as you've probably noticed, come in a
variety of various colors, including white, black, gray, red, blue and green. Most pearls can be found all over the world, but black
pearls are indigenous to the South Pacific.
MOOD vs TONE
The mood of a novel can change from chapter to chapter, and even from paragraph to paragraph. Consider the serene and
contented mood that Steinbeck established in the first part of chapter one. So, based on this, you can see that the mood is
determined by the atmosphere that the author sets up in the story. The author can also use a specific word choice (diction) to help
set up the mood. Yet, this is where we get into tone.
Tone is a feeling you get from how the author describes something…like the feeling you get after you read the doctor’s introduction
and characteristics.
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Chapter 2
1. What are Kino and Juana’s occupation?
2. What is Kino’s canoe symbolize? Cite an example from supporting your answer.
3. Why do Kino’s people sing songs?
4. What song does Kino hear in this chapter? What song did Kino hear in the previous chapter before the scorpion stung Coyotito?
5. Analyze Juana’s statement: “It is not good to want a thing too much. It sometimes drives the luck away.” Do you agree with this
statement? Why/Why not?
6. What significance has the pearl held for Kino and Juana this chapter (Hint: What does it symbolize)?
Chapter 3
1. According to Juana, “A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulder and feet. A
town is a thing separate from all other towns, so that there are no two towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news
travels through a town is a mystery not easily solved.”
How does her description compare/contrast to how news spreads at this school?
Do you consider this to be a positive/negative quality—explain.
2. Why did Kino suddenly become every man’s enemy when he found “the Pearl of the World”?
3. Identify four things Kino hopes the pearl will be able to purchase for his family.
1:
2:
3:
4:
Which of these items do you believe is the most important to Kino—explain.
4. What explanation can be given for why Kino heard the Song of the Evil in his head when the Father of the Church came to their
brush house? What might this foreshadow?
5. How did the doctor cruelly manipulate Kino and Juana into his treatment of Coyotito’s scorpion sting? What motivated him to do
so?
6. How has the pearl become a symbol of evil by the chapter’s end? A symbol of hope?
7. What do you predict will happen when Kino tries to sell his pearl to the buyer’s?
Chapter 4
1. Describe the setting (scene) of the townspeople on the morning Kino decides to negotiate with the pearl buyers.
2. What other day in their lives do Kino and Juana compare this day to?
3. What does Juan Tomas caution Kino about before selling the pearl?
4. Describe the first pearl buyer Kino negotiates with. Why does he refuse to buy the pearl for anything more than 1,000 pesos?
5. What does the first pearl buyer send the young boy for? Why?
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
6. Briefly describe the next three pearl buyer’s responses:
1:
2:
3:
7. Why do both Kino and Juana hear the Song of the Evil after negotiating with the pearl buyers? What is their plan now for the
pearl?
8. Who does Kino get in a fight with at the end of the chapter?
9. What can be inferred about Juana and Kino after their dialogue at the end of the chapter?
a. Kino:
b. Juana:
10. What do you predict will happen in the final two chapters?
Chapter 5
1. What does Juana attempt to do at the beginning of the chapter to the pearl? Why?
2. Why must Juana and Kino go away from La Paz? What would happen if they stayed?
3. What happens to Kino’s boat? Cite an example from the text to prove Steinbeck’s commentary that “the killing of a man was not
so evil as the killing of a boat.”
4. Why is Apolonia found crying? What does she believed to have happened to Kino, Juana, and Coyotito?
5. Aside from hiding his brother’s family in his brush house, identify two other efforts Juan Tomas takes to help Kino, Juana, and
Coyotito?
6. If you were Juan Tomas or Juana, how would you respond to Kino’s closing statement: “This pearl has become my soul…. If I give it
up, I shall lose my soul.”
Chapter 6
1. Why are Kino, Juana, and Coyotito running away? From whom are they trying to escape?
2. Why does Kino begin to lose hope as he says, “Perhaps, I should let them take me”?
3. For the first time in this story, Juana refuses to obey Kino—what prompts her to do so?
4. What gives away Kino, Juana, and Coyotito’s hiding place in the cave to the trackers?
5. What song provides Kino strength before attacking the trackers?
6. Kino successfully kills the trackers, but why does he walk away defeated?
7. How had the “Pearl of the World” changed in physical appearance and symbolically over time?
8. What do you suppose would’ve happened had Kino and Juana decided not to throw the pearl back into the ocean?
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Literary Element: Characterization
Skim back through Chapter One and fill in the character chart below to describe Kino, Juana, and the Doctor. Add to the chart as you
continue to read the book.
APPEARANCE
CHARACTER TRAITS
KINO
JUANA
THE DOCTOR
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Unit Essential Question:
In what ways can events in our lives shape our identities and the identities of those around us?
DIRECTIONS: Consulting your book, provide specific and accurate details that show how each character has been affected by Kino’s
discovery of the pearl.
Character
KINO
JUANA
DOCTOR
OTHERS
(Name the
individual or
group)
Identity BEFORE the pearl
Identity AFTER the pearl
THE PEARL – John Steinbeck
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
VOCABULARY
1.covey: small flock of birds
2.feinted: pretended to attack
3.pulque: fermented drink made in Mexico
4.plaintively: in a way that sounds sad and mournful
5.bougainvillea: flowering tropical vine or shrub
6.avarice: greed; eagerness for riches
7.indigent: needy; very poor
8.suppliant: humble; imploring
9. judicious: wise
10. residue: something that remains after a part is removed, disposed of
11. lucent: softly shining; translucent; clear.
12. disparagement: something that derogates or casts in a bad light
13. subjugation: bringing under control; enslavement
14. countenance: appearance, especially the look or expression of the face
15. benign: having a kindly disposition; gracious, showing or expressive of gentleness or kindness
16. coagulate: to change from a fluid into a thickened mass; curdle; congeal
17. lethargy: the quality or state of being drowsy and dull, listless and unenergetic, or indifferent and lazy; apathetic or sluggish
inactivity
18. escarpment: a long, precipitous, cliff-like ridge of land or rock
19. petulant: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance
20. covert: thick undergrowth where animals hide
21. germane: pertinent; important to the topic at hand
22. sentinel: one who guards or keeps watch
23. guttural: having a harsh, throaty sound
24. deft: skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands
25. semblance: an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
26. disparage: express a negative opinion of
27. malignant: dangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor)
28. stalwart: having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships
29. tithe: the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy, or the
same amount regarded as an obligation or tax for the support of the church, priesthood, or the like
30. succumb: consent reluctantly
THEMES, MOTIFS, AND SYMBOLS
Themes: Greed as a destructive force, the roles of Fate in shaping human life, colonial society’s oppression of native cultures, men
and women’s roles in society, the importance of family, poverty versus wealth.
Motifs: Nature Imagery, Kino’s songs.
Symbols: the Pearl, the scorpion, the canoe.