The Parable Of The Pearl By John Steinbeck

In the parable of The Pearl, Steinbeck includes many actions that many religions may oppose or agree with. Looking at The Pearl through an Islamic lens of experts in Islam many sections seem to be similar and different from The Pearl. When I interviewed people that I know are knowledgeable in Islam and The Quran there were many opinions that came up about the actions that Kino had done in The Pearl. Some opinions were that if Kino was Muslim he would have do the same exact thing, but if he was Muslim then he would have sold the pearl and donated some of the money to the other poor people. Lastly, when Kino killed the man he had the right to do so if he was Muslim. When I interviewed my grandmother Adela she said, if Kino was Muslim “he would have done the same exact thing” (Adela AlHamad), and turned down the offer to sell the pearl for what the dealers offered him. When Kino said, "It is worth fifty thousand", it lead me to believe that he wants much more then what he was offered, and that price was the byproduct of the greed in Kino’s heart. The greed within Kino was the obstacle in the way of his family’s wellbeing. If he had not
been greedy than he would have no reason to leave La Paz, and his son would not have been killed by the hunters. That is only one of many different opinions on what Kino has done. On the other hand when I talked to my grandmother Shaikha she said “a Muslim would have sold it for what he was offered and give a small portion of money to the poor people” (Shaikha AlNassar).
When Kino decided to go “to the capital”, he wanted to get more out of selling the pearl. Getting more out of the pearl would allow him to donate some money to the poor and keeping money for him and his family in order to help them. If he really wanted to give some money to the poor he would have sold the pearl for the price he was offered which was, “a thousand pesos” and thus him not having to leave and that would have kept his child alive. With the remaining money he had after donating he could have educated his son, which is what he wanted from the beginning. The religion of Kino would have made an immense change on the plot of The
Pearl. In the same way, my aunt Lulu she said that if Kino was Muslim he would have “the rights to kill the man” (Lulu), since in the Quran it says that you must defend what is your through whatever means necessary. When Kino “killed a man” it would have been his right if he was Muslim, but since he was not he had no right and it would be punishable and that is why he wanted to flee that town sooner than planned. Again his decisions was the cause of his son’s death, because if he was Muslim he would have known that the death of the man coming to steal the pearl was completely justified and would have not feared for his wife and son. If Kino was Muslim he would have do the same exact thing, but if he was Muslim then he would have sold the pearl and donated some of the money to the other poor people. Also that when Kino killed the man he had the right to do so if he was Muslim. Those were all opinions that came up when interviewing people I respected in Islam. Sections of The Pearl seem to be deferent to Islam and yet some seem similar to it. Many religions may agree or disagree with the actions that Steinbeck has in The Pearl.