The Pearl Essay Example
The Pearl
How does John Steinbeck, author of ‘The Pearl’ successfully convey the main themes of the novella?
‘The Pearl’, by John Steinbeck has been a very touching, interesting novella to read. It originally appeared in the ‘Woman’s Home Companion’ Magazine in 1945. Set in a Mexican Indian village, the novella tells the story of Kino, a pearl diver who discovers the beautiful ‘Pearl of the World’. Upon finding this large, expensive pearl Kino changes as a person and has a desire to be rich and to change his everyday life. Unfortunately, this disruption in the usual day to day routines causes more trouble than the pearl is worth. Throughout the novella there are two main themes, one being the destructive power of greed, and the other colonial society’s oppression of native cultures, which are successfully conveyed by Steinbeck using several techniques, such as use of characters, motifs and symbols.
Themes are the subject of a person’s writing, they are the fundamental ideas explored in literary work. Steinbeck wants us to learn about the ways in which greed is a destructive force and how colonial society cruelly and unfairly treats native cultures and cultures less wealthy than themselves. I think Steinbeck wants us to learn a life lesson not to be greedy or to demoralise others by assuming we are better than them simply because we are from a different, possibly better off culture than them. He does this mainly through character, motifs and symbols.
The main character, Kino, is a very simple man, living to support his family and watch his son grow up. Kino is a very good example of how greed and its negative forces can corrupt people; he represents how greed is a very powerful, negative force. At the beginning of the novella Kino is happy and content with his life; he has a wife and son, a canoe and a house and is a great pearl diver. ‘This is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.’ However, after discovering the pearl, he begins to dream about changing his
How does John Steinbeck, author of ‘The Pearl’ successfully convey the main themes of the novella?
‘The Pearl’, by John Steinbeck has been a very touching, interesting novella to read. It originally appeared in the ‘Woman’s Home Companion’ Magazine in 1945. Set in a Mexican Indian village, the novella tells the story of Kino, a pearl diver who discovers the beautiful ‘Pearl of the World’. Upon finding this large, expensive pearl Kino changes as a person and has a desire to be rich and to change his everyday life. Unfortunately, this disruption in the usual day to day routines causes more trouble than the pearl is worth. Throughout the novella there are two main themes, one being the destructive power of greed, and the other colonial society’s oppression of native cultures, which are successfully conveyed by Steinbeck using several techniques, such as use of characters, motifs and symbols.
Themes are the subject of a person’s writing, they are the fundamental ideas explored in literary work. Steinbeck wants us to learn about the ways in which greed is a destructive force and how colonial society cruelly and unfairly treats native cultures and cultures less wealthy than themselves. I think Steinbeck wants us to learn a life lesson not to be greedy or to demoralise others by assuming we are better than them simply because we are from a different, possibly better off culture than them. He does this mainly through character, motifs and symbols.
The main character, Kino, is a very simple man, living to support his family and watch his son grow up. Kino is a very good example of how greed and its negative forces can corrupt people; he represents how greed is a very powerful, negative force. At the beginning of the novella Kino is happy and content with his life; he has a wife and son, a canoe and a house and is a great pearl diver. ‘This is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.’ However, after discovering the pearl, he begins to dream about changing his