The Pearl 2

Previously mentioned, reading “The Pearl” was not altogether pleasing, though it was insightful- but foreboding from start to finish. The largest lesson, in my opinion, that “The Pearl” teaches is the importance of listening to one’s sense of reason. The story is cliché: man runs into fortune (subsequently becoming stubborn and greedy) and just as quickly runs him (and a few close individuals) into the ground. But then, why is it that the reader doesn’t feel like they’re reading a cliché novel?

 I believe concepts of evil and forbearing give the tale a unique essence. Instead of greed (though this was clearly involved), the story circles around the ideas of universal balance, karma, luck, and inhuman forces that influence the lives of the people of La Paz. For instance, when Kino was just about to find “The Pearl of the World”, it was mentioned that you had to want it (“it” being a pearl- or anything of value found by chance) “just enough” but not “too much”.

Superstition is something almost everyone has a little bit of. We’ve all thrown salt over our left shoulders at one point or another, and many of us have our own little rules for when we’re expecting good luck or bad. Though most of us would recognize this practice as frivolous, anyone who has read this book has noticed the spooky authenticity in Juana’s cries for caution and frantic attempts to follow her instincts. It seems that after the pearl came into their lives, Kino and his family were perpetually haunted by an evil force. And perhaps if Kino had paid a little closer attention to his wife’s claims and to the ringing of “the Song of The Enemy”, then he would have spared the state of his family and the life of Coyotito.

I think the reason Kino did not receive the expected riches was because he wanted them too much; the events that transpired were the perfect examples of how a man testing fate with stubborn ambition would surely fail. Every reader knew that the moment he (Kino) turned down the offer from the pearl-buyers, his decline was imminent. His drive to see his dreams come true would lead to his peril. Some would say it was the noble thing to do, to keep going for the sake of his family’s quality of life, his child’s chance for education and the opportunity to be prosperous. I would generally agree, except I think that near the end, he was doing it more for himself than for his wife and child; the “Song of the Family” was slipping far into the background for much of the time. Though this is sad to say, it may have been best for Kino not to have gotten so focused on his fortune, and maybe he should have accepted the small pay for the pearl and gone back to the life in which he was previously comfortable, using the pearl-buyers’ money to officially marry Juana.