The Pearl

The literary novel, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck ends in a horrible tragedy. However, who is to blame? The story in a nut shell is basically about a man, Kino, and his wife, Juana, and their baby Coyotito. In the beginning, Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion and because they were Indians and the fact that they could not pay for the treatment, the doctor refused to aid Coyotito. Kino became really lucky on his canoe, finding the Pearl of the World, pretty much the equivalent of winning the lottery. However, now, everyone is after the pearl. Kino was attacked several times by greedy townsmen or villagers, resulting in the first death. Kino and Juana run away and get tracked by trackers, who try to kill them too, though a stray bullet comes and kills Coyotito. Kino and Juana return to the village and out of guilt and rage, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. Back to the question, who or what is to blame? I believe that Kino, the pearl, and the European settlers all have most of the blame in this accusation.
The peal is to be blamed the most. “Luck, you see, brings bitter friends.” (Pg 34) This is true. Kino’s luck for the pearl brought greed, tragedy, anger, and guilt. The doctor had lots of greed within him. The only “helped” Coyotito to find out where the pearl is hidden. He takes advantage of Kino, who can’t read to seem like a hero so he would get paid or find out where the pearl is hidden, “The doctor shrugged, and his wet eyes never left Kino’s eyes. He knew the pearl would be buried in the house and he thought Kino might look toward the place where it was buried,” (pg 35). The death of 5 people, counting Coyotito was part of the horrible catastrophe brought by the pearl. The guilt for killing Coyotito and anger for not listening to others’ warnings will probably haunt Kino’s life forever. The pearl caused so much grief and pain that without it, this whole wreck and misfortune would have never happened.
Kino is also very much at fault for this blight. He refused to listen to anyone, turning to violence to do things. “But Kino’s face was set, and his mind and his will were set.” (pg 38) Kino refused to listen to any warnings; he wanted a rifle, an education for Coyotito, and a wedding. When he resorted to violence, everything started to go downhill. When he punched Juana, a bit of their marriage was ruined. When he killed the man, he ran away, resulting in their house being burned down and trackers sent after them. After he killed the trackers, Coyotito has died. Because he wanted more, to be able to free his village from ignorance, to provide for his family, he destroyed them all. He wanted too much and ended up losing everything.
The European settlers are of course, also to blame. Their prejudice against all the natives is part of the root of this woeful event. They expect the Indians to be like savages, complete animals. “‘Have I nothing better to do that cure insect bites for ‘little Indians’? I am a doctor, not a veterinary.’”(pg 11) They don’t allow them treatment; they don’t allow them education; and they don’t allow them respect. Had Coyotito been cured of the scorpion bite from the doctor, Kino would never have had to go searching for a pearl to pay for the treatment. If he had not been allowed treatment, but had proper education, he would know how to help Coyotito and would not have let the doctor trick them. The European settlers had much to do with this tragedy and maybe if it wasn’t for their ignorance, this story might have a different ending. In conclusion, everyone had some part to do with the cause of the disaster, but the most to blame are Kino, the pearl, and the Europeans. Each of their choices ultimately decided what would happen. Each of them did something to cause this. Had they done something different, maybe things would turn out differently.