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Chapter by Chapter book report on Steinbeck's The
The Pearl
by John Steinbeck
Chapter I
Kino, a poor Indian woke up on a beautiful morning.
Kino walked outside his small brush house beside the Gulf
wrapped in a blanket to enjoy the majesty of the morning and
the Gulf while Juana, Kino's wife, started a fire and
prepared corncakes for breakfast. While Juana sung a
beautiful song as she worked, the relevance of music in the
Indians' life was explained by the storyteller (The ancient
Indians made up a song about every little occurrence in daily
life. The songs included the "Song of the Family," a tune
about the togetherness of loved ones and the "Song of Evil,"
a song about the appearance of enemies. The present Indians
only thought about these songs when such occurrences arose.).
When Kino returned, he ate his prepared breakfast. Kino and
Juana were drawn away from their breakfast when they noticed
a scorpion climbing on a rope suspending the crib of
Coyotito, Juana and Kino's first born baby. As Coyotito
laughed, the rope shook and the scorpion fell on the infant
and struck him. Juana tried to suck the poison from
Coyotito's wound. As a crowd developed around Juana and
Kino's house, the couple decided to take the baby to the rich
town doctor who lived on the nice side of town. The doctor
was very prejudiced against Kino's race and therefore refused
the baby care. The doctor also refused care to the baby
because of Kino's lack of money. As Kino left the doctor's
mansion, he punched the doctor's gate.
Chapter II
Kino and Juana set out to the Gulf. First Jauna removed
some seaweed from the water and applied it to Coyotito's
swollen shoulder wound. The couple next took Coyotito with
them as they sailed into the Gulf to find a pearl. They
figured that if they salvaged a pearl from the murky depths
of the ocean, Kino might be able to pay the doctor to care
for the scorpion-bitten baby. Kino then dived into the ocean
with the "Song of the Pearl That Might Be." As he approached
the ocean floor, Kino started to fill his basket with
barnacle-covered oysters. Kino then found a very large
oyster and brought it up to the surface with high hopes of
finding a pearl. Kino then entered the canoe and began to
open up the oysters to try to find a shiny piece of organic
cement wrapped in an oyster's muscle. He did not open the
large oyster first because Kino believed his luck would be
better if he pried open the large oyster last. After a while
Juana pressured Kino to open the enormous oyster. Inside the
large oyster the couple found the greatest pearl either of
them had ever seen. The pearl Kino and Juana found was about
as big as a sea-gull's egg and had perfect curves. To add to
magical occurrences of the day, the swelling in Coyotito's
shoulder had decreased considerably. The poison in the
baby's system was luckily receding. When the other pearl
divers around Kino heard of his discovery, they came quickly.
Chapter III
Word spread through Kino's town. By the time Kino,
Juana, and Coyotito arrived home, everyone in town was
already aware of and buzzing about Kino's miraculous
discovery. Kino's friends and relatives came to the brush
hut to marvel at the pearl. When Kino looked at the pearl he
envisioned a better life for his family. Kino wanted his
family to have new clothes and new objects of value. Above
all, Kino wanted his son Coyotito to be educated and for
himself and Juana to be formally married. Later on the
doctor came to pay a visit to Coyotito since the doctor
envied the pearl. The doctor gave the baby some medicine and
returned a little while later when the baby was well again.
The doctor mentioned the matter of the medical bill; and Kino
told the doctor that the pearl would be sold the next day;
and Kino would then pay the doctor. After the doctor left,
Kino buried the pearl in the ground of his hut. That night,
Kino heard someone trying to steal the pearl from the hut.
Kino took his knife and lashed out in the darkness in a
blinding fury at the theft. Kino stabbed the burglar, and
the burglar ran away. After this incident, Juana tried to
convince Kino that the pearl was evil and would do more harm
than good. Juana pleaded to Kino to break the pearl between
two stones. Nevertheless, Kino refused to destroy the pearl
because he believed the pearl would be the only chance for
their son to get a good start on life. After hearing Kino's
rebuttal, Juana smiled and sided with Kino.
Chapter IV
In the morning Kino's family and Kino's brother, Juan
Tomas, set off to sell the pearl to a pearl buyer in town.
That morning businesses closed down and everyone went to the
pearl buyers' to watch the sale of the pearl. When Kino went
to the pearl buyers', the first buyer tried to cheat Kino by
offering him merely one thousand pesos for the pearl. The
buyer told Kino that the pearl was too large to be taken
seriously and that the pearl was a monstrosity. Obviously,
Kino knew the buyer's statement was false. When other buyers
talked to Kino, they also told him that the pearl was just a
novelty item. When Kino decided to take his business
elsewhere, it was too late for the buyers. They had played
too hard for Kino. Kino the decided to journey to the
capital of Mexico to sell the pearl. When Kino got home, he
buried the pearl again in his hut. Kino fell asleep but woke
up again when he heard a burglar outside his brush house.
Kino had a large fight with the intruder but could not
identify him. When the fight was over, the burglar ran away,
and Kino ended up with a slash on his face from his ear to
his cheek to his chin. After this scrap, Juana once again
begged Kino to destroy the pearl. Kino was still determined
to make good for his son, however. Later that night, Kino
admitted his fears of travelling to the capital city to his
Juana. Juana consoled her beloved husband and assured Kino
that she would go with him to the capital.
Chapter V
In the morning, Kino woke up to the sound of his wife
running out to the shore with the pearl. Just as Juana was
about to hurl the stone out into the sea, Kino ran up behind
Juana and grabbed her wrist and the stone fell on the shore.
Kino slapped his wife in her face and kicked her in the side
for trying to get rid of the pearl. Kino was then attacked
by an unknown man. The two fought and the unknown man was
killed. Juana picked the pearl up off the shore and brought
Kino to reality. Juana explained that the family must leave
their town because any way they saw it, a murder was a
murder. Kino preceded to find his canoe, only to find that
his boat has been destroyed by some unknown person. The
destruction of Kino's boat greatly angered Kino because the
possession of a boat in his town was a sign of masculinity.
As Kino turned back towards his house he noticed that his
brush house had been set afire by a jealous neighbor. Juana
struggled to rescue Coyotito from the great blaze, and the
whole family hid in the house of Juan Tomas, Kino's elder
brother, and Apolonia, Juan Tomas' wife. When Apolonia found
Kino's family hiding in her house, Kino informed her of his
predicament. Kino also told his brother that Juana and
Coyotito would go with Kino to some place far away. Juan
Tomas borrowed some food supplies and certain tools from
neighbors and gave them to Kino for aid on his secret voyage.
Kino told his brother that since Kino's pearl had already
become a part of his soul, Kino would keep it forever.
Chapter VI
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito traveled on foot all day and
all night. At one point, the couple decided to sit down and
take a rest. While Kino was resting, he saw three figures
off in the distance. He recognized these people to be
trackers. Kino then hid himself until his pursuers
temporarily left, and Kino's family began to run madly
through the brush and ended up in the desert area. Here, the
family fled over ground and hills. Finally, Kino found a
small erosional cave to hide in. The family waited all night
long in the cave until the trackers camped out in front of
it. Kino quietly sneaked out of the cave in preparation to
kill the tracker that had the gun and was awake. One of the
trackers awoke from his slumber when he heard Coyotito
crying. The man with the gun then fired in the direction of
the baby because he thought Coyotito was actually a howling
coyote. Kino then leapt out and killed the man with the gun.
Once Kino had the gun, he shot the two remaining trackers.
Sometime later, Kino and Juana returned to their town. They
silently walked through the streets as many onlookers
gathered around. The couple quit walking when they came to
the sea. Kino hurled the cursed pearl back into the sea,
believing that the pearl had given Kino and Juana their own
share of misfortune.
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