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Not What You Meant?  There are 50 definitions for Pearl.  Also try: Kino or La Perla.


The Pearl Study Guide

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by John Steinbeck
About 88 pages (26,375 words)
The Pearl (novel) Summary

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Themes

Good and Evil

Kino's belief that evil is in the night is not unusual. But one of his many foibles is that he sees

Knowledge and Ignorance

The Doctor, the Priest, and the Pearl Buyer do their part to keep the peasants ignorant and docile. They use whatever methods the can to accomplish this—financial instability, religious ceremonies and threats of eternal damnation, or lack of economic choice. When the Pearl is discovered, however, each power controller makes the mistake of thinking he knows how to have his way with the finder. Due to this mistake, they do not allow any knowledge to escape but they alienate Kino from them. In other words, by insisting that he stay ignorant of their ways they harbor resentment and defiance. Kino is ignorant, not mentally deficient. They answer.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 726 words. This study guide contains 26,375 words (approx. 88 pages at 300 words per page).

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The Pearl from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

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