Kino's Relationship with the Pearl

Kino's relationship with the pearl is the central, tragic dynamic of John Steinbeck's novella, tracing a trajectory from ecstatic discovery and hopeful dreams through obsessive possession and violent paranoia to a final, devastating recognition of the pearl's evil and its renunciation. The pearl begins as a symbol of salvation and family prosperity, but it rapidly becomes an object of greed that corrupts Kino's soul, isolates him from his community, and ultimately leads to the destruction of his family and the death of his son.

Discovery and Initial Promise

When Kino first opens the oyster and finds the great pearl, it is described as "perfect as the moon," capturing light and giving it back "in silver incandescence." It is as large as a sea-gull's egg, and Kino immediately sees dream forms in its surface. The discovery coincides with the apparent healing of his son Coyotito from a scorpion sting, and Kino's emotion breaks over him so powerfully that he puts back his head and howls. In this moment, the pearl is fused with the Song of the Family, and the secret melody of the maybe pearl breaks clear and triumphant. The pearl seems to promise everything Kino has ever wanted: a church marriage for himself and Juana, new clothes, a harpoon, and even a rifle—a Winchester carbine. Most powerfully, he envisions Coyotito sitting at a school desk, learning to read and write, and through that knowledge, setting their people free. Kino declares, "My son will read and open the books, and my son will write and will know writing." The pearl becomes the vessel for all his long-suppressed hopes and ambitions.

The Pearl as a Source of Evil and Paranoia

Almost immediately after the discovery, the pearl attracts the attention of the entire town, and Kino's relationship with it shifts. The news stirs up "something infinitely black and evil in the town," and Kino becomes "curiously every man's enemy." The doctor, who had earlier refused to treat Coyotito, now comes to the house, and Kino's suspicion grows. The music of evil begins to sound in his head, shrilling against the music of the pearl. After a first night attack on his house, Juana cries out, "This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us," and begs him to throw it away. But Kino's will is set: "This is our one chance," he insists. "Our son must go to school. He must break out of the pot that holds us in." The pearl's beauty cozens his brain; its warm lucence promises a poultice against illness and a wall against insult. Yet even as he stares at it, he feels the creeping of fate, the circling of wolves. He buries the pearl, then moves it, and when Juana asks who he fears, he answers, "Everyone." A shell of hardness draws over him.

Violence and the Pearl's Corruption of the Soul

Kino's relationship with the pearl becomes increasingly violent and possessive. When Juana attempts to throw the pearl back into the sea, Kino intercepts her, strikes her in the face with his clenched fist, and kicks her in the side. He looks down at her with bared teeth, and Juana sees murder in him. Later, after a second attack in which Kino kills a man, he confesses to his brother Juan Tomás, "This pearl has become my soul. If I give it up I shall lose my soul." The pearl is no longer a means to an end but an extension of his very identity. During the flight to the mountains, Kino looks into the pearl to find his vision of the future, but instead of the rifle or the church wedding, he sees only a huddled dark body on the ground with shining blood dripping from its throat, Juana with her beaten face crawling home, and Coyotito's face thick and feverish from the medicine. The music of the pearl has become sinister, interwoven with the music of evil. The Song of the Family, once a melody of safety and warmth, becomes as fierce and sharp as the snarl of a female puma, driving him down on the dark enemy.

Final Renunciation and Loss

The climax of Kino's relationship with the pearl comes after he has killed the three trackers, only to discover that Coyotito has been shot and killed. Returning to La Paz with his dead son, Kino and Juana walk side by side to the water's edge. Kino holds the great pearl in his hand and looks into its surface. It is gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peer from it, and he sees the light of burning, the frantic eyes of the man in the pool, and Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. The pearl is ugly, like a malignant growth. Kino hears its music, distorted and insane. He turns slowly to Juana and holds the pearl out to her, but she says softly, "No, you." Then Kino draws back his arm and flings the pearl with all his might into the sea. He and Juana watch it go, winking and glimmering under the setting sun, until it settles on the sand bottom and a crab raises a little cloud of sand that covers it. The music of the pearl drifts to a whisper and disappears. In this final act, Kino renounces the object that has become his soul, acknowledging the destruction it has wrought and accepting the loss of his world.