The Pearl By John Steinbeck: A Literary Analysis

Loved ones are the glue that hold people together. Being deprived of family causes life to be altered in a negative fashion. In the novella, The Pearl, the distance between Kino's family causes their home to burn down and destroys the life of their son, Coyotito. Yet when they are together, life is portrayed as peaceful and care-free which is preferable to catastrophic events. Steinbeck's catastrophes throughout the short story occur when the family is apart, thus proving that family should stick together. In the beginning of the short story, a family wakes up in a serene and calm setting: "The stars still shone and the day had drawn only a pale wash of light in the lower sky to the east" (Steinbeck, 1). Kino is in a state of relaxation with his family being in his presence. At that moment, "there was a song now, clear and soft, and if had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the Song of the Family" (Steinbeck, 2). All was well in Kino's house hold, thus, proving that everything is okay and peaceful when family is one. Once
In order to have a better chance of safety, Kino decided that he would go outside of the cave and attempt to kill them. "For a moment his body was black in the cave entrance, crouched and silent, and then he was gone" (84). Now, Kino was yet again apart from his family. The tracker heard a cry from the darkness and stated, "If it's a coyote, this will stop it," (86) and he pulled his gun out then presumed to shoot the area from which the cry was coming from. Although this shot was aimed at Coyotito. Kino recognized the "keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry form the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death" (87). One can infer that this cry of death came from Juana once her baby was struck with a bullet. The loss of Coyotito while Kino was separated from Juana and the child justifies that the family should have stuck