The Pearl Response

Remember when you were a little kid, and you got a new toy on your birthday and you would never let anyone play with it? In this book, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, a father named Kino cherishes a pearl beyond anything. Kino explains to everyone what he will get after his pearl is sold. All of what Kino wants to do with the money of the pearl, after if it is sold is for his family, “We will be married-in the church… We will have new cloths… A rifle, perhaps a rifle… My son will go to school.” You may think that Kino’s most important value is his family since what he is going to do is for them, except he actually is doing it for himself. Kino tries to prove to Juana he can sell it and wants to prove to her that the pearl will bring good fortune. After all, Kino did mention, “This pearl has become my soul. If I give it up I shall lose my soul.”   

            When you were a little kid, you would grow out of that toy after a year, when you got something new and better. But in this story Kino never grows out of loving the pearl. He ends up killing his young son. The pearl took over his life. This story is like a famous movie I have seen. It is like, The Lord of the Rings. Gollam is so obsessed with a ring that he kills himself for it.  Nether Kino or Gollam made a good decision. They ended up ether killing them or killing someone they really loved.