The Pearl

In "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, the characters Kino and Juana represent roles of universal qualities. This makes these characters allegories. Juana can be seen as a representative of all women across the globe because she possesses cautiousness and self-sacrificing. Kino naturally represents a man because he possesses as a family defender and recklessness.

To begin, Juana is a universal representation of women because of how cautious and self-sacrificing she is. In a way, she shows that she is cautious is by stepping up when Kino is down. "You have killed a man. We must go away. They will come for us..." (Pg 61). To elaborate, this shows that she is cautious because while Kino was fighting off the dark shadow. She was looking out for
him and Coyotito in a protective and careful way so that they would not be hurt or inflicted in any type of way. Another way to show that Juana represents women is how self-sacrificing she is. "Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us-let us throw it back in the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil!" (Pg 56). The way that this shows that Juana is self-sacrificing is because of how desperate she is to turn her life back to normal. Her plea's show that she does not want to have to look over her shoulder for an attacker or walk on stones to the Capital to get a grand offer for the pearl that has done nothing except cause trouble. All in all, this shows that Juana plays a role in representing female roles. She shows this by being cautious with her making last-second decisions for the sake of her family. She is also self-sacrificing on how she attempts to throw the evil-filled pearl away just so everything can be normal for her family to live a normal life without the feeling of terror.

Similarly, Kino represents all men because of how he defends his family and his recklessness.
In a way that Kino defends the family is how he will kill to help support everyone. "He heard the rush, got his knife out and lunged at one dark figure and felt his knife go home." (Pg 59). This shows that Kino is ready to attack whoever or whatever may lay in their path towards a better, successful, and safe life. He is thriving for the idea for Coyotito to be able to read out of the books. He also wants Juana and Coyotito to have a good life and not live in poverty but the only way to do so is to sell the pearl to the Capital. Also, Kino represents men by his recklessness and fast actions without a second thought. "They have taken the pearl. I have lost it. Now it's over." (Pg 61) This shows that Kino is quick to give up which advances the plot because the story is about the drastic changes that could be made with the pearl. Though now, Kino has lost the pearl to his attackers and he's scared at what he will do. He will not be able to put Coyotito in a school like he planned. Overall, this shows that Kino represents a man through his defenses for his family and his recklessness of losing the pearl. He shows is masculine aura through what he does to protect his family from harm. Even if it includes murdering an attacker instead of knocking them down. Or being reckless and not counting for his actions of losing the pearl which was their path to a different
life.

All in all, Kino and Juana represent qualities and roles in the universe. Juana maintains traits such as being cautious and self-sacrificing while Kino possesses his recklessness and his natural family defenses. These traits are what form them to be allegories in the book, "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck.