Summary:
The characters in 'The Pearl' by John Steinbeck
Analysis of Chapter One of "The Pearl"
In this chapter we hear about 3 main characters; Kino, Juana and the doctor. We hear about their personalities, how and where they live, who their family is and other interesting things. Here are some parts in the book that explain these people's lives.
Kino is a ' young, strong man.' Another quotation that explains what he looks like is, ' His eyes were warm and fierce and bright.' This shows that he has a warm, loving personality but can also get angry. When is says that his eyes were 'bright' it may mean that he is intelligent or it could mean that he is very aware of the things around him. Kino is content with his life, 'It was a morning like all mornings and yet perfect among mornings.' This proves that he is proud of how he lives. Kino hears 'songs' in his head. He calls one song 'The song of the family.' He describes this song as 'clear' 'soft' 'safety' 'warmth' and 'whole'. This shows that he feels secure in his home with his wife Juana and baby boy Coyotito. It also shows by saying 'warmth' and 'whole' he really loves his family and is very pleased with it. Kino is an overprotected parent. When Coyotito gets stung by the scorpion, Kino kills the animal and squishes it until it's gone, 'Kino had it, had it in his fingers, rubbing it to a paste in his hands. He threw it down and beat it into the earth floor with his fist.' This proves to me that he really loves his son. It also shows that he can get angry and aggressive.
Juana is the wife of Kino and the mother of Coyotito. She has great respect for her husband and the evidence for this in the book is, 'When Kino had finished 'meaning her breakfast' Juana came back to the fire and ate her breakfast.' This shows the respect and love she has for her husband. As Kino thinks in the book, Juana has the 'strength of a man' in her, yet she is 'patient' and 'fragile.' Juana is the person who looks after the baby, '..Juana took Coyotito out of his hanging box and cleaned him..' This should show that she is a housewife. Even though she is poor, Juana can still make herself look decent for her husband, '..She combed her black hair and braided it into 2 braids and tied the ends with thin green ribbon.'
Juana loves her first baby boy Coyotito very much. She would do anything to help him, like when the baby was stung by the scorpion she did all she could to save him, 'She found the puncture...she put her lips down over the puncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again.' This is a very courageous thing for a person/mother to do. Juana is a very determined woman. A description of her eyes was, 'Her eyes were as cold as the eyes of a lioness.' If she were a lioness she would have determination to protect her cubs against poachers/hunters. This is the same sort of determination that Juana as a mother has.
The doctor is a white man who lives in the rich part of the town. His life is very different to Kino's family who lives in brush houses, these people like the doctor live in 'brick' and 'stone' houses. The clothes that the doctor wears are very different to the 'rags' that Kino and Juana wears, 'He (meaning the doctor) had on his dressing-gown of red watered silk that had come from Paris, a little tight over the chest now if it was buttoned.' Silk would've been quite expensive for any person to buy, but not for the doctor or most of the white people. He is a very greedy man and looks his nose down on people who cannot pay for his treatment, like Kino and Juana, 'Has he any money? No they never have any money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing- and I am tired of it.' This shows how disrespectful he is to Kino and probably other people who need his help.
This is the complete article, containing 701 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
