There is a struggle outside of Kino's house in the sense that that Kino has to fight off all of his "predators" in order to keep the pearl safely in his house. The predators include the doctor, the priest, the pearl buyers and the beggars. The doctor is trying to trick Kino into giving him money and is possibly trying to steal the pearl. The priest is being selfish and is suddenly thinking about baptizing Coyotito and marrying Kino and Juana now that Kino has a pearl. The pearl buyers are cheating Kino and trying to give him less money for the pearl than it is worth. The beggars know that Kino used to be poor and now is rich and all they can think about is that since Kino used to be poor he will probably pity them and give them lots of money. 

Steinbeck makes all of this "hunting" evident by using an analogy:

"Out in the estuary a tight-woven school of small fishes glittered and broke water to escape the school of great fishes that drove in to eat them. And in the houses the people could hear the swish of the small ones and the bouncing splash of the great ones as the slaughter went on. The dampness arose out of the Gulf and was deposited on the bushes and cacti and on the little trees in salty drops. And the night mice crept about on the ground and the little night hawks hunted them silently."

The other struggle is the one inside Kino's house where there is a struggle between Kino and Juana, but there is also a struggle between Kino and himself. What I mean when I write this is that Juana is worried about the pearl and realises that it is destroying her family. She tells Kino to give it up but he keeps on arguing with her about it. The struggle between Kino and himself has to do with the two sides of the pearl, one side gives hope, as Steinbeck writes,

"Its warm lucence promised a poultice against illness and a wall against insult. It closed a door on hunger."

and the other side makes Kino fear everybody and not trust anybody. He suspects everybody of trying to steal his pearl.

Alexandra W. 7DT

Kino ignores her and responds telling her,

The people of the town want the pearl but they are fighting with a weapon stronger than Kino's physical strength, they are fighting with their knowledge. They continue tricking Kino but he can't do anything about it because he hasn't got knowledge. In fact when he finds the pearl the first thing he wants to do with it is send Coyotito to school. When the doctor tricks Kino he,
"felt rage and hatred melting towards fear. He did not know, and perhaps the doctor did. And he could not take the chance of putting his certain ignorance against this man's possible knowledge. He was trapped as his people were always trapped."

Also the pearl buyer tricks Kino into selling his treasure cheaply. He pretends to be "a caller of good mornings, a jolly man who knew all jokes and yet who hovered close to sadness."

But beneath the surface he just wants the pearl and to do that he tells Kino his pearl is, "like fool's gold . It is too large. Who would buy it? There is no market for such things It is a curiosity only."

The buyer calls his colleagues and tells them to make an offer for the pearl, but they had already arranged the price before Kino arrived.

There is also an internal struggle going on within Kino. Steinbeck makes this struggle evident through the songs in Kino's head. They reflect the confusion and turmoil, which have replaced the harmony of the Song of the Family. When there is danger around him and his family, he instinctively hears the Song of Evil. When the Priest comes, "the music of evil, of the enemy, sounded, but it was faint and weak. And Kino looked at his neighbours to see who might have brought this song in."

After Kino finds the pearl, "he is a man transfigured ". He really needed the pearl and in fact he is determined to not throw away his big chance. When Kino finds the pearl he predicts his fortune like all the people around him do. We can say this is a struggle between wealth and poverty but also between ignorance and knowledge.

Antonio S. 7T

When Kino first catches a glimpse of the pearl, a whole adventure begins. This pearl turned out to be the Pearl Of The World, and because of that, everyone in the town, and the city, wants to put their hands on the pearl. Once the neighborhood heard about the great pearl, the doctor, the priest, the neighbors, the beggars and also the pearl buyers started thinking about how useful the pearl could be to them. This forces Kino to go through a lot of suspicious adventures and also many life-risking situations.

The day that Kino found the pearl, the doctor found out and of course he came to "check" the baby. After a so-called treatment and tricking Kino, he asks for something in exchange and as Kino tells him that he has found the great pearl, the doctor becomes more and more interested in it. Later that day the pearl brings more trouble and also a visit form the priest. Juana tells him to throw the pearl away, to forget it because it is only bringing trouble to the family, but this time instead of listening to Juana he insists that they should keep the pearl and maybe something good will happen.

 The next morning Kino and Juana, followed by the whole town, go to the pearl buyers, which as many people knew, is one man with many agents. When Kino shows the pearl and is told that it is worthless, he is filled with rage. When Juana sees this, she again tries to tell him that it is not a good idea to keep the pearl and that they should get rid of it, but once again Kino resists this temptation and continues the struggle to sell the pearl without hurting his family.

After the whole difficulty with the pearl buyers Kino decides to go to the capital. To many people this idea sounded totally crazy, even to Kino himself, but Kino had decided to go against his instincts, to not listen to his inner voices anymore, and most of all to continue the journey of selling the pearl without anyone stopping him, not even Juana.

Kino's struggle is one which goes against his instinctive thoughts. This is a huge change for him because he had always listened to his small internal voice, but now he is suddenly going against it. In my opinion Steinbeck is trying to tell us that life is full of struggles, even if one isn't noticing it. I think that this mission for Kino will be hard, but worth it.

Carmen 7T

Through Kino's eyes the only one he can trust is himself, little Coyotito and perhaps Juana. At deciding this Kino draws a clear line between himself and the outer world, but as a line is a boundary and a boundary is a rule, those who want to break it are not few. To survive this struggle Kino changes drastically and John Steinbeck makes this evident through many means in his storytelling.

Steinbeck makes the nature of the struggle evident through the use of juxtapositions and analogies to show the reader what is below the surface and what Kino is feeling. Starting from the 'slaughter' of the little fish in the estuary a predator-prey relationship is formed between Kino and those hunting for the pearl. The predators are again brought up when Kino feels 'the creeping of fate, the circling of wolves, the hover of vultures', putting himself in the position of the prey awaiting its death. Steinbeck shows the danger and negativity of the struggle by making all attacks for the pearl happen during the night, a time when you cannot see and everything is dangerous and making those attacks all lead to a bloody fight.

In real life the fittest survive and the prey dies, in stories however the prey often wins, thus the outcome of the struggle for the pearl is still unclear. Both predator and prey still have a chance.

Rosa 7F

When Kino finds 'The Pearl of the World' he is happy and scared at the same time but his wife Juana is sure that the pearl will bring unhappiness and despair. Instead Kino adores and trusts the pearl even though he is attacked by several people who want to steal it. Kino trusts the pearl so much that changes dramatically and doesn't listen to people, particularly his wife and most importantly, his inner voice. This is because Kino is convinced that the pearl will make him and his family rich and thinks he is doing the best for everyone. He doesn't realize that he is in danger of losing his family, his wife Juana and his little baby Coyotito, even though he receives many warnings from the thieves that want to steal the pearl.

The struggle is about Kino and his family and the people who want to steal the pearl. In other words the struggle is about the good and the bad side. As you can see in the book there are many people, even the beggars, who would like to get the pearl because everyone is jealous when they think that Kino, a poor person came to be a rich man, only because of a pearl. They all consider Kino as a rich and a fortunate man and because of people's jealousy they try to steal Kino's pearl. So Kino isn't able to trust anyone anymore, and he also stops listening to his inner voice. His wife Juana tells Kino to throw the pearl back into the sea because she knows that the pearl will destroy her family, but Kino doesn't listen to her and continues to keep the pearl always believing that he's doing the best for his family.

John Steinbeck makes the struggle evident through his storytelling by using analogies, songs, similes, metaphors and personification. He also makes it evident by showing Kino's changes. He uses figurative language to compare Kino's situation to animals, or things related to his situation. John Steinbeck also makes the struggle evident by using the songs, especially the evil song, only when the doctor comes near. But now that everyone is jealous of Kino, he always listens to the Evil Song and even though he knows that he is in danger, he keeps the pearl.

I think that Kino's struggle is a foreshadowing because the pearl itself is warning Kino that thieves, like the doctor and almost everyone want to steal his pearl. At first Kino only desires that Coyotito is cured, that he goes to school, and that he and his family can live in comfort but he doesn't doesn't yet realise that this situation may have tragic consequences.

 Elisa 7DT

The first struggle he faces is that people are starting to be jealous of his pearl. When Kino first finds it he thinks everybody in his village will be happy for him and his wife. Instead, people begin to have a strong and uncontrollable desire towards it. The pearl is very precious and valuable and for this reason someone attempts to steal it from Kino. After that episode Kino starts to realize that he can't fully trust anybody around him. His world is now dark and mysterious. Kino doesn't know who this person might be so he starts to create an outer shell around him. He feels suspicious of all the people near him, fearing them as well. As a reader I would suspect the doctor to be trying to steal the pearl but John Steinbeck creates a feeling of suspense by not revealing who it is. The struggle between the people and Kino is about power and desire for the pearl, something that both the people and Kino have.

There is also a harder struggle for Kino: the struggle within himself. Kino used to be a poor man who was content with what he had, even though it was very little. Kino had a simple and plain life, based on a daily routine that he loved. After he found the beautiful pearl though, he changes into another person. Now the more he has the more he wants. Kino also begins to listen to his wife less and less, and he becomes greedy and stubborn. This struggle is between the new Kino and the old one. The old one could also be considered as his instinct or inner voice. This side of Kino wants to throw the pearl away and return back to his normal life. His inner voice is telling him to break it and forget about the whole thing but when something happens such as when someone tries to steal it, the other side of him takes over. It makes him be aggressive and violent in any way to defend the pearl. This struggle is harder for Kino than the previous one because it's a battle against himself, which makes it also much harder to win.

The last struggle Kino has to fight is between him and the pearl itself. The author describes the pearl by writing that it has two sides. One of them is the happy side filled with hope, new clothing, learning and many other joyful things. The other side is the opposite: hateful, suspicious, untrusting and brutal. Kino finds it hard to decide which side to trust. At first he sees the wonderful part of it, including is son learning to read and write. After a short period of time Kino finds out about the ugly side of his pearl. The pearl causes Kino a lot of trouble and misadventures but still for a long time he keeps it. Kino acts in a way he never would have before having found the pearl but only realizes it after his son Coyotito dies. The struggle between the pearl and Kino is something to do with his feelings and emotions.

Silvia 7DT

When Kino finds the pearl he is happy and is sure that his life is changed. When he looks into the pearl, he think that everything he thought could never become true, would finally come true. When he looks into the pearl he sees lovely and happy things but when he looks more carefully he sees something a little strange like a 'ghostly gleam'.

After the whole town has heard about the "great" news that Kino has found the pearl of the world, struggles begin. First when people come to see the pearl for example when the priest comes to greet Kino and look at the pearl, the evil music comes into the hut. Then when the doctor hears about Kino's pearl he makes up a story of how sick Coyotito will be. In the night in the hut someone comes to try to steal the pearl and when Kino tries to protect his family and the pearl, the intruder bashes something hard in Kino's head. Kino and his little family are always in danger now that Kino still has the great pearl. But Kino thinks that these difficulties will pass after has sold his pearl. Much to his surprise Kino doesn't sell his pearl because the pearl-buyers give him a low price on the pearl and say it's valueless.

I think what John Steinbeck tries to tell in the story is that people are jealous and when people are jealous it's usually because another person has something they don't have, so they might try to take it from you. This time the struggle is bigger and that in this story the struggle has some violence that might even lead to death. In this parable people get ready to kill or attack Kino and his family just to get the pearl of the world.

Saara 7T

Early In the book, Kino had a "temporary" enemy, a scorpion. Kino discovered a scorpion on the ropes of Coyotito's hanging box. Coyotito shook the rope and the scorpion fell off, landed on the baby's shoulder and struck.

"He threw it down and beat it into the earth floor with his fist, and Coyotito screamed in pain in his box. But Kino beat it and stamped the enemy until it was only a fragment and a moist place in the dirt. His teeth were bared and fury flared in his eyes and the Song of the Enemy roared in his ears."

Kino won this struggle, though his baby was poisoned.

Later, Kino and Juana rush to the city with Coyotito. They, and a following procession, marched to the doctor's place. But how can the doctor be Kino's enemy? Well, because,

"This doctor was not of his people. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race, and frightened it too, so that indigene came humbly to the door."

So, if Kino's ancestors hated this race, there is no reason why Kino should like him.

"He could kill the doctor more easily than he could talk to him, for all of the doctor's race spoke to all of Kino's race as though they were simple animals." Kino spoke to the doctor's servant and told him that the baby had been stung by the scorpion, but the doctor refused to treat the baby.

"Have I nothing better to do than cure insect bites for "little Indians"? I am a doctor, not a veterinary."

Later, when Kino finds the pearl and returns home from the estuary, he gets an unexpected visit from the doctor. The fat, racist doctor apologises that he "wasn't in" when Kino had come and he tells Kino how to treat scorpion stings. Kino, knew that the doctor was going to trick him.

"He did not know, and perhaps the doctor did."

"He was trapped as his people were always trapped, and would be until, as he had said, they could be sure that the things in the books were really in the books."

The doctor gave Coyotito a white powder which Kino and Juana doubted strongly. When the doctor returned an hour later Kino lost this struggle because Kino couldn't trust or doubt the Doctor's advice so the Doctor had total control and could take advantage of Kino's lack of knowledge.

Kino had another enemy, an enemy he could never imagine. He could not understand why his ears were ringing with the "Song of the Enemy", when he approached. He was the Priest! But how can a priest, a holy person be an enemy? Well, maybe the Priest is greedy and could be planning to use money from the pearl to upgrade the church. Or, he might use the money for himself.

One of the main enemies of Kino is himself. After he finds the pearl, Kino no longer followed his instincts. Was this a smart move or a stupid move? In the first chapters he followed his instincts then later he resists. One example is throwing away the pearl. Deep down, Kino's instincts tell him to follow Juana's advice, and he knows that it is having the pearl which is responsible for all the attacks and misfortune.

"But Kino's face was set, and his mind and his will were set. "This is our one chance," he said." So Kino has chosen a path and it might be the right one, or it might be the wrong one.

These are a few of the struggles Kino faces. There are many others including Juana and The Pearl Buyers. When Kino chooses a path he can't go back and change it, so Kino is now under much pressure. Will Kino come out of this mess with what he wants, or will Kino come to his destruction.

Om 7T

At the start he would have even given the pearl as a gift to someone he knew, but now after he has protected it for so long, and he believed in the dreams that the pearl brought him, it seemed mad to give it up. If Kino had known that the pearl would put his family in danger, I think he would have let it go.

The first struggle that he had, right after finding the pearl was against the people in his town, who were jealous of the pearl, so they all wanted it. This is when Kino is transfigured, he can not trust anyone anymore, so he closed him self to everyone, and he started to become violent and arrogant towards other people, to protect his family. This is what Juana noticed.

The second struggle was when the Doctor came to his house, only for pearl, and told him that the baby was very sick, even if it wasn't true. Kino knew that, but could not take a risk, he couldn't take a chance. The Doctor knew that he would be able to trick Kino who had to accept the Doctor's word because he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Coyotito was fine.

Then the Priest came in and asked him about the pearl, and Kino was confident in him at first. Suddenly he heard the song of Evil in his head, so he looked out to see which one of his neighbors was bringing it, but he couldn't find the source.

Now Juana begins telling him to lose the evil pearl that is bringing them a lot of misfortune. One night Juana wakes up, takes the pearl and quietly walks out towards the beach, but Kino sees her and follows silently. When Juana was throwing the pearl in the sea, Kino grabbed her, pushed her on the ground, and kicked her. Then he heard something else moving and he took out his knife and killed the person that was attacking him. All of a sudden their house began to burn down, Juana ran to get the baby and went to Juan Thomas' house to hide.

Giancarlo 7DT

It might not be obvious at first, what "The Pearl" is really about. Without all class discussions, tests and explanations I had, probably the story would seem to have no specific sense to me. Really, Steinbeck disguised the book; it may seem simple and childish, but if you think harder and understand the message the author wants to get across it will start to get complicated. As Kino finds the Pearl Of The World, he describes it as "a ghostly gleam", and on those two words, Steinbeck bases the whole story.

A struggle starts, without Kino knowing, the second he raises the beautiful, luminous, ghostly, pale pearl in his hands. When Kino thinks he will now be the happiest man on earth, evil starts lurking around, around Kino; its enemy and prey. Steinbeck tries to make us understand that the struggle is all really about the pearl, which has created evil, greed, avarice and injected poison inside everyone's heart. That is in fact the Ghostly part of the pearl; the despair side. Kino, does not understand this, he only dreams about new clothes, a rifle, school for the babyÉall part of the hope and beauty side of the pearl, almost like the surface of it, while underneath the silk coat lies evil and poison.

You might now be wondering who is against who in this battle.  The pearl against Kino? The doctor, pearl buyers and priest against Kino?  Maybe even Kino against himself? The answer is all of them.  In this parable, Steinbeck makes us understand how alone and hunted Kino is, not just by one person, but by everyone, even himself. The inhabitants in the town are all enemies to Kino. The doctor, the priest É as soon as news spread that Kino had found a pearl of the world, each person thinks of ways to steal the pearl or maybe make more money. Poor Kino cannot trust anyone anymore, not even people like the priest. As the old man enters, Kino hears the song of the enemy pounding in his ears, just like he'd heard it with the doctor and the pearl buyers.  This is unexpected for Kino because the priest had always been thought of as holy and kind.  To think badly of him had never crossed Kino's mind!

Kino fighting against the pearl is almost like a metaphor.  He isn't really fighting the pearl physically, but he is struggling to try and make his dreams come true, even when all tell him he should throw away the beautiful pearl. A mountain often represents a struggle or challenge but in Kino's case, the mountain is the evil side of the pearl which he has to win over. The pearl itself is not evil but as the story reveals, "The essence of Men mixed with the essence of pearl and a curious dark residue was precipitated".  

The Pearl turns every man into greedy and evil, full of dangerous venom. Kino must also fight against the priest, the doctor, the pearl buyers, the shopkeepers, the beggars.  All of these people, in various ways, represent the concrete evil, which the pearl brings.  It is this evil which Kino is forced to fight against to conquer his mountain. Through figurative language, Steinbeck effectively makes us understand that almost all the town inhabitants are venomous.  He shows us how Kino hears the song of Evil any time he is near these men who want the pearl for themselves.  Many symbols help us understand this struggle better too.  One is of course the pearl, but there are many others such as, the blood which is spilled and the knife. Every time Kino is attacked by a different person, the knife becomes an important symbol, and so does the blood which shed.  Figurative language also emphasizes the struggle and the workings of evil. The pearl buyer is described as a friendly man with a 'benign face' and 'twinkling eyes', but Steinbeck's metaphors help us see that beneath the smiling face the eyes are as 'cruel and unwinking as a hawk's eyes'.

Until now we have talked about how Kino struggles against evil.  Kino makes a decision at the beginning of the story that causes all the unfortunate events which follow.  He decides to keep the pearl and never give it up.  He says that,

'This pearl has become my soul. If I give it up I shall lose my soul.'

As the story unfolds, Kino becomes increasingly aware of the evil that the pearl is bringing, but he convinces himself to keep on fighting against it.  The struggle now is against himself.  Kino's mind is divided in two.  One part thinks Kino should throw the evil pearl back into the sea, so that his simple life will be restored and all will go back to normal.  But the other half is more dominant and that is Kino's idea to keep on fighting, even at the cost of endangering the lives of Juana and Coyotito.

Federica 7DT

But Kino always wants more, he has hundreds of dreams that he wants to realize with only one pearl. And he thinks that being stubborn and fighting for his dreams will make him a "man" in others' eyes. But it turns out that he is slowly destroying himself.

Juana's influence on Kino is somehow part of the struggle. Juana, I really firmly believe, is much wiser and morally stronger than Kino. And I think Kino, sometimes, knew that Juana was right, but his desire of power and wealth came first. His desire to be a man came first. And Juana always accepted his will, though sometimes it took more strength and words with Kino, but she always let him do what he thought was best. Juana to me seems a little bit like Kino's mother too. She lets him experience to learn what life is.

When the doctor comes to cure Coyotito, Kino actually knows he's being tricked and he wants to say, "No, I won't pay you, the baby is fine". But he can't take a chance because he has no idea of the effects of the scorpion's venom, only that you may die, so he is forced by his love and humanity to ignore his instinctive feelings. He supresses the instinctive, animal, wildness from his character for a while. Like an animal mother does, when the cubs come, there is nothing to risk, you can't wait and see what happens, you must above all offer the greatest protection ever. So Kino has a wild side, but he can't take risks with those he loves.

The struggle for survival becomes increasingly evident through Steinbeck's figurative language. Steinbeck often describes Kino with animal qualities. His actions and feelings are often expressed in similes or metaphors that describe animal characteristics, such as when he was angry or hurt Juana; "He hissed at her like a snake". Kino's way of always following his instincts and being violent when he was angry were often likened to animal behaviour. When an animal hears even the faintest sound, he always thinks of danger and attacks. Kino controls himself a little more than a puma or a lion, but is still a little bit wild inside. He 'howls' with victory after finding the pearl, 'springs like an angry cat' when he is being pursued and like an animal 'his senses are burningly alive' as he waits for his predators.

 Livia 7T

The struggle is also about how much people want the pearl for themselves and their families. But Kino wants it too, and he becomes aggressive, violent and angry, at first, only because he wants to save Coyotito. He needed the pearl to get some money to pay the doctor to cure Coyotito after the venom injected by the scorpion in the swinging box. If Coyotito hadn't been stung by the scorpion, there would be no need to escape, no fights, no danger, no pearl, and no killing to defend himself and his family. The pearl brings evil that Kino had never known before, It enters his life, and brings sadness and danger to him and his family.

Steinbeck makes this struggle evident in his storytelling, through the figurative language such as metaphors, similes and especially personification. I think that Steinbeck wants to make the struggle more evident, because maybe he wants everyone to understands how much danger the pearl brings to Kino. I even think that he shows the fighting, but also how Kino changes. He becomes suspicious, and fears everybody. Kino does not trust the people around him, and he doesn't trust the doctor because he knows that someone is following him. So Kino in desperation decides to run away with his family; his wife Juana and his baby son Coyotito.

Carolina 7F

That very night, Kino was attacked as someone tried to steal the great pearl. Juana started to think that the pearl was not so desirable any more and she wished that Kino would get rid of the pearl. This was the second conflict facing Kino. The two conflicts that I have mentioned so far are conflicts with other people, but Kino also has a conflict within himself. Kino knows that the pearl is bringing evil and hatred and his instincts are telling him that he should throw the pearl away, but he is not listening to them. He has decided that he is going to keep the pearl no matter what happens.

These three conflicts are very strong, but perhaps the strongest and most violent conflict of all is the one between Kino and all the people who desire the pearl for themselves. This particular conflict is strong because the pearl is of great value and everyone wants it. The only thing that stands in their way is Kino. Obviously everyone will do whatever they can to take possession of the pearl and therefore the situation is becoming more serious and could have tragic consequences.

Eilif 7F

"It is wonderful the way a little town keeps track of itself and of all its units. If every single man and woman, child and baby, acts and conducts itself in a known pattern and breaks no walls and differs with no one and experiments in no way and is not sick and does not endanger the ease and peace of mind of steady unbroken flow of the town, then that unit can disappear and never be heard of. But let one man step out of the regular thought or the known and trusted pattern, and the nerves of the townspeople ring with nervousness and communication travels over the nerve lines of the town. Then every unit communicates to the whole."

Kino stepped out of the line, out of everything safe, out of everything he knew. Things start getting dangerous and John Steinbeck tells us this with this analogy:

"Out in the estuary a tight-woven school of small fishes glittered and broke water to escape a school of great fishes that drove in to eat them. And in the houses the people could hear the swish of the small ones and the bouncing splash of the great ones as the slaughter went on. The dampness arose out of the Gulf and was deposited on the bushes and cacti and on little trees in salty drops. And the night mice crept about on the ground and the little night hawks hunted them silently."

Here Steinbeck is trying to tell us various things, one of which is that the struggle that Kino is pursuing is one that goes against the rules of nature. Kino is trying to break nature, but Steinbeck tells us that the big and powerful will always prevail and triumph over the weak and flimsy, like the school of big fish that are devouring the school of little fish. Although the little fish might try to escape or fight, it is always the survival of the fittest which determines the outcome.

The struggle that Kino is facing is exactly that the townsmen want The Pearl and Kino refuses to give it to them without getting the true value for The Pearl. He is fighting back and that is something unheard of. It is absurd that a poor, uneducated fisherman could attempt to outsmart the ruthless business world, and Steinbeck emphasizes this struggle by enriching the story with figurative language.

Although he might try, Kino will never be treated equally and decently, because the powerful and rich will outweigh the weak and poor. Kino could keep The Pearl, if he wanted to, but at what price?

Maita 7DT

The struggle began when Kino found the pearl. This struggle is between the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated and Kino's fight against his own senses or intuitive nature.

Kino is poor and he has found a pearl, which the rich people wanted so they try everything to get it. It starts with the Doctor. When he said that Coyotito was very sick, he gave him a medicine to make him sick because he wanted money and to convince Kino and Juana that he alone could cure the baby. The pearl buyers said to Kino that the pearl was worthless even though it was worth a lot. They said it in order to buy the pearl for a cheap price and still get the pearl.

Kino is not educated but he uses superstition, religion and wisdom while the Doctor uses science instead, because he has the money to buy and read books. He said that he was a doctor and he knew science. When Coyotito was sick he lied to Kino and although Kino and Juana knew it, they couldn't take a chance on the life of Coyotito who was their only son.

Kino is fighting against his own senses and Steinbeck makes this struggle evident through the songs he hears. Kino doesn't want to hear the song of evil which roars in his ears, he only wants to hear the gentle song of the family. After he finds the pearl Kino never listens to Juana, his wife. Juana tells him that he has to throw away the pearl otherwise it will destroy them all, but Kino doesn't want to throw it away. Many people now try to steal the pearl from him, endangering his family, but Kino always guards it so carefully that the people try to kill Kino instead. Kino always manages to win in the violent struggles with his predators but he is wounded repeatedly.

John Steinbeck explains the struggle very clearly through imagery and figurative language, such as personification. He makes it seem like the pearl is human and that it's the pearl's fault that Kino gets in trouble. The pearl is attractive for Kino but evil for Juana. Kino can only see the good side of it because he doesn't want to see the bad side of the pearl. Juana can only see the bad side of the pearl.

The pearl has changed Kino into a different man, a man who wants more and more of everything, who just listens to himself and doesn't listen to Juana anymore. Kino had always listened to Juana in the past, but after he found the pearl he ignored her advice.

Klara 7T

When the Pearl was found a struggle began in the lives of Kino and Juana. As Kino sank to the translucent depths of the under sea his anxiety and anticipation was rising like the heat on a mid summer day. Juana was not praying that her baby Coyotito would be miraculously saved, but she was praying that Kino would find a pearl, the Pearl of the World.

Kino was diving to search for pearls, and as he was running out of breath he saw out of the corner of his eye a very large oyster shell barely attached to the rock. This large oyster shell opened mysteriously and Kino saw a ghostly gleam, then the shell closed. Kino as excited as he was, took the oyster in his hand and brought it to Juana. He laid it down on the floor of the boat and decided to open it. When he opened it and saw what he had found, he screamed and howled with joy and relief, for now there seemed to be a chance to save Coyotito.

The Pearl brought a great struggle with it and anyone who found this pearl would have to bear and live with it. This struggle had two sides. Jealousy and hatred for those who saw it, but did not own it, yet for Kino it was a beacon of hope and the fulfillment of impossible dreams. Kino would become a rich man and he envisioned himself getting married in a church, wearing shoes and new clothes, and he saw Juana in a wedding gown wearing a new shawl. Kino now had to balance the struggle between his own desires and those of the townspeople. He saw all of this in the Pearl, in the Pearl of the World. The other people in his village envied him greatly, though they would say to each other how lucky Kino was to have found such a great pearl. But really they wished it was themselves who found such a thing.

Later in the story, Kino and his family were being hunted by predators who envied his great discovery. Kino is like the little school of fish in the sea, which were being hunted by the big school of fish. In this analogy, the big school of fish represented the villagers and all the people who envied Kino. Although Kino would not reveal the place where he had hidden the pearl, these predators came at night and broke into his house in search of his treasure. John Steinbeck reveals this struggle through having the pearl be a metaphor itself and having this metaphor be divided in two different parts, the struggle between good and evil. The Pearl tore Kino away from his ordinary fisherman's life and gave him a chance to live a new life where he would be able to have enough money to improve his lifestyle. Now that Kino had been exposed to this opportunity he would never be able to go back to his earlier life style of mere survival.

The irony of the story is that Kino who is a pearl fisherman finds what he is meant to find. Instead of bringing him happiness, the Pearl has the opposite effect. Steinbeck cleverly has Kino rise in society, but he has not become richer or better off at all.

Isotta 7F

After the discovery of the pearl, Kino had unwillingly been hypnotized by that beautiful but evil object. He had built an outer shell, keeping the pearl safe without realizing that instead of bringing luck and money to his family, it would bring only fear and despair. As soon as Kino had found the pearl, the news spread through the village and the town. This led to various struggles among different people.

The first struggle is between Kino and Juana. Ever since Kino found the pearl, Juana observed all his actions, even the least important ones. She had noticed that Kino had changed. When someone tried to steal the pearl from Kino, she desperately told him to throw it away, to crush it or to give it back to the sea, but Kino just ignored her and made her stay silent even by kicking her.

Meanwhile, there is another struggle going on. Kino thought everyone shared his joy for the discovery of the pearl, but he didn't know that people were planning evil against him. Many wanted the pearl for themselves. Kino didn't know, but he was in great danger. Most of the people who wanted the pearl would have done anything to have it. The pearl had turned them evil too, and they were ready to kill anyone who was in their way. The pearl buyers wanted the pearl for themselves, knowing that their boss wouldn't live for ever and that someone would have to take his place. The priest from the "town of stone and plaster" wanted the pearl to go to the church. He knew Kino had always wanted to get married and now that Kino could afford it, the priest couldn't wait to be paid. And obviously, there was the doctor. He was the one who first refused to cure Coyotito and then, as he heard that Kino had found the pearl, hurried to his house to cure the baby.

At last, there is an internal struggle within Kino. On one hand, he knew that the pearl could offer his family a better future, but listening to Juana constantly telling him that the pearl was evil, shook his confidence in the precious object. He was afraid to lose it, therefore he became over concerned to keep the pearl in a safe place. He didn't realize that as many people would have killed to have the pearl, he would have killed to protect it. After the first time that someone tried to steal the pearl, Kino became aware that people were against him.

The way that Steinbeck illustrates these struggles is by using figurative language. He widely uses similies to make comparisons, for example, he often compares people to animals and personification to give human qualities to unanimated objects. To make the reader visualize some situations he uses metaphors and imagery as well as assonance and alliteration to mesmerize and catch the reader as the "ghostly gleam" of the pearl hypnotized first Kino and then everyone else.

Claudia 7F

After Kino sees the "ghostly gleam" he becomes a "changed man". He leaves his once simple and traditional life, for a path that no one of his village had ever done. This was to defy the learned man and leave the village.

He faces a struggle against the people in the world that know how to read and who are greedy for his pearl. Steinbeck shows us through the chapters that every man was greedy and jealous for his sudden richness, from the poor beggars, to the rich doctor. It is the turning point in his life, when he struggles through something no other pearl finder ever has to do. This is the struggle for his life, and his family.

Steinbeck shows us that his morale has crumbled with all this pressure on his life; he had changed unlike any other man. In but a couple of days he had seen and become more than any other man had ever had to endure. He no longer could rest next to Juana with tranquility; he had to always be on his guard. Steinbeck is able to shows us his pain and transformation through juxtapositions such as the ghostly gleam or his personifications.

The main way Steinbeck makes me understand Kino's life is through the way he writes, such as when he is talking about the pearl seducing Kino. Those little but powerful differences help every one of us understand his transformation as a man. Furthermore, Steinbeck is able to show us these struggles through different metaphors, such as, "News stirs up something infinitively black and evil". He is able to tell us how when one man gets lucky, but does not know what to do, other greedy and jealous people take advantage of him, such as Kino and the Doctor.

Some kids I know find this book boring, but I think that's because they are digging too deep to find a meaning when it is right on top. It shows the life of a man, who faces the challenges of the unknown, who fights off greed, but who becomes greedy. As Steinbeck says in the beginning of this book, each man gets his own meaning from the this parable.

John B.  7T

Before the pearl was found, Kino lived peacefully with his wife, Juana, and his son. Trouble in their life began when the scorpion bit Coyotito. This event indirectly caused the discovery of the pearl, which, with its “ghostly gleam”, inevitably started a dramatic struggle. It transformed Kino into a prey for many predators, such as the the pearl buyers, the doctor, the priest, and even the pearl itself, which ate up his soul, making him a “man trasfigured”.

One part of the struggle was between the two opposite sides of the pearl. Its good face promised good: a marriage, food, new clothes, a rifle, school, wealth, and especially respect from those who always had humiliated people of his race. This side tricked him and gave him a false hope which kept him going on. But, more hidden, the pearl had an evil side too that, especially towards the end, was probably more dominant and unfortunately Kino wasn’t really aware of its existence at first.
However, the main struggle was between Kino and the other people who wanted the pearl; his predators. It started with envious glances and people pretending to be friendly, to frequent attacks where Kino accidently killed a man. For this reason, the story becomes a continous ‘getaway’ from the evil. He becomes a machine whose only goal is to escape. Then, towards the end of the story, the struggle becomes extremely serious and finally, leads to tragedy.

The way Steinbeck writes the story is very convincing and the atmosphere is perfect. All the figurative language, the details, and the appropriate adjectives make the situations so clear that you can identify with Kino in his anguish and fear of everyone. “He felt the creeping of fate, the circling of wolves, the hover of vultures”, is an example of how the protagonist is described when he senses the danger around him and can’t do anything to save his family or himself, because he can’t modify fate.

Vera 7F

After initially hearing the Song of the Family, Kino begins to hear the Song of Evil. Here Steinbeck suggests that Kino feels distant from the harmonious and peaceful relationship that there once was between him and the members of his family. However, Kino is not willing to throw the Pearl back into the sea because he is absolutely convinced about the positive effect that the magnificent treasure might have on them. This is an important detail because it reminds me about the Pearl when it is described as a 'ghostly gleam'.

The harmony which Kino had known now becomes despair, fury and anger. But the curing of Coyotito from the scorpion's venom and an education for him was the hope for a new life that Kino saw in the Pearl. I also think that the struggle facing Kino doesn't only involve the Pearl. It is also the contrast between knowledge and ignorance. Throughout the chapters there is a comparison, especially in the third chapter between the doctor's universal knowledge and Kino's ignorance.

The struggle is also between the rich and poor. When Kino first walked into the 'town of stone and plaster', he didn't feel as confident with the wealthy inhabitants there as he felt with the poor and ignorant farmers who lived in the brush houses of the village. This is because he was made to feel inferior to them because he wasn't as rich or educated as they were. In fact Kino believed that the Pearl would change this because now he would be able to marry Juana in a beautiful church and his son, Coyotito, would have the chance to go to school. I think that when Kino is described as a man 'transfigured', Steinbeck wants to underline the great change in Kino and the great struggle he faces after finding the 'Pearl of the World'.

In conclusion, Kino is being affected more by the side of evil and despair which the pearl brings. This is because apart from having changed in a negative way he does not want to get rid of the pearl even though he has realized that it is causing the destruction of him and his family. It has changed him from being a kind and understanding person to one who is untrusting, furious and cruel.

Roberto 7F

I was on vacation in La Paz, Mexico, for a business trip to gather information for a new book. I wasn't very excited. Sure, La Paz has some nice scenery, but I wanted some motivating history of the place. I went to the ruins of the homes called "brush houses" where the native Mexicans used to live, by the Gulf. This interested me, because it had a mystifying feel to it. By the shore, I saw a full grown man with brown skin and long, graying, black hair. Dressed in ragged pants, a ripped shirt, and no shoes, he didn't' look like he belonged in the residential neighborhoods I'd seen up to then. He was staring into the water, as if trying to see through it. I approached him quietly, not wanting to disturb him. He surprised me when he spoke unexpectedly in a soft voice. "Hello, stranger." I stared at him in wonder, until he spoke again. "Do you not want to know why it is that I am here alone?"  And with those words I started to pay close attention to this peculiar man.

"My name is Santiago; I am the second son of a well known family here. The family of Kino and Juana. My brother, Coyotito died a horrid death before I was born, when he was only an infant. My father, Kino, was a great man, a man, transfigured and mutated. He was once only a simple man, with a simple life. He lived in a brush house that stood on this very ground. It is that grayish smudge in the earth over there", he said pointing to a small stain in the dirt, "it was burned to ashes when the evil took over him."

He paused as if to think for a moment, and then continued.

"One day, my brother was stung by a scorpion, and my mother and father went out in their canoe", he said pointing to a couple of pieces of straw and wood by the shore. "They went to the oyster bed and my father dove for oysters. They wanted to find a pearl, so they could sell it, and pay for the doctor to visit Coyotito. It is there where the evil started."

Santiago grimaced and his eyes were blank with unpleasant memories. "My father found the Pearl of the World in an oyster of his, and he was overjoyed. But there was a demon in that pearl, and it cursed my father, my mother, and my unfortunate brother. The pearl changed my father extraordinarily. Villagers from the town of stone and plaster", he said as he jerked his chin toward the town where the white people used to live, "attacked him to get the pearl. One day, he lost his temper, and without realizing, killed a white man and had to escape from the town. But that story is for another time, along with the death of Coyotito. What I wanted to draw attention to is how important the pearl was in all of this.

My father, Kino, was struggling with the pearl, or rather, himself, in a way, for his whole life. There was the malice and the beauty of the pearl which made my mother, Juana, despise it. But my father was a man. As a man, he always made the final decision. He refused to give up the pearl. So, he struggled with the part of himself which knew that the pearl was evil, and the part of him that was deeply attracted to its splendor. It was as if the pearl had put him in some sort of trance...".   He whispered the last sentence so softly it was hard to hear.

"Thank you so much, Santiago. Your information was very useful to me. I will be looking forward to seeing you again, so that you can tell me about the rest of your family's fascinating life. I'm John Steinbeck, by the way, and I was sent here to Mexico by my editor so that I could get some information for a new book, and I really think I've hit the jackpot." "Books?" Santiago breathed, as if he had never heard of such things. "My brother was to learn how to read ... books ... before my father turned cold-hearted ...". I felt embarrassed to have brought the subject up, and apologized for having been rude. He shushed my apology and looked at me with wide eyes. "You will write a book about my family's past?" I stammered an almost inaudible "Yes."

Santiago's eyes seemed to bore into the back of my brain, by how intense his gaze was. "You will make the struggle of my father the main point in book. Yes?"

"Yes," I replied, "yes I will. I will use figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personifications, alliterations ...".  

Santiago looked confused and told me, "I do not know what figurative language be." I understood and nodded my head. He smiled at me and whispered,  "You should go. Someone be looking for you."

Just then, I heard my friend calling me. I was puzzled, but left without another word or question. Behind me I heard Santiago sitting down on the gravel. I looked back, but he wasn't there anymore. But I heard his voice in the wind.

 Kino is so obsessed and attracted by this pearl that he is not even thinking of what he is doing and what he is saying, for example in part of the book Kino says to Juana: " Hush, do not speak any more, tomorrow we will sell the pearl, and then the evil will go away and only the good will remain". Juana fortunately understands Kino and what is happening, so she doesn't react even if inside she feels sad for herself and Kino because she feels that something really bad is going to happen to all of them.

 One of the most important struggles in the book is the one Kino has with himself, because in the beginning Kino is a good father, respectful, strong and one who protects his family.  But now that he finds the pearl he gets carried away by its power and he doesn't realize what he is doing and how he is treating many people. Kino doesn't seem to care about anything bad that might happen because he wants to sell the pearl.

Davide 7T

In Kino's community there are poor people and rich people. The poor people live near the sea in brush houses while the rich live in "the city of stone and plaster". The rich people do important jobs like buy pearls from the pearl fishermen. The townspeople "had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race" so they didn't interact. In Kino's village if you were born poor you stayed poor and when Kino finds the 'pearl of the world' he wants to change this. Kino is determined to change the future of his family but to do that he has to fight against all the people who want to steal his treasure. Kino and his wife Juana after they are attacked and nearly killed begin the next day "with hope". The two of them fight this adventure always with hope but at the end they lose their biggest treasure, Coyotito.

  Kino and his people are poor so they can't go to school. The people of the town take advantage of their ignorance and constantly trick them. When Kino finds the pearl he reads his future in it.  He says, "My son will go to school". This is an important goal for Kino because if his son can read and write and be educated his people will be freed from ignorance. When Kino finds the pearl the doctor who had ignored him when he was poor, goes to his house to cure Coyotito. The doctor tricks Kino;

"and he could not take the chance of putting his certain ignorance against the man's possible knowledge. He was trapped as his people were always trapped."

Before Kino had found the pearl he was a normal fisherman and nobody cared about him. From one day to another he finds a pearl; 'the pearl of the world', and all of a sudden everyone is interested in him and pretends to be his friend.

This parable showed me how wealth can make a person become evil and jealous and how humans are greedy and violent when they see money.  Steinbeck writes that when you give something to humans they always want more, and this is something we can see in every day life. In this parable a treasure is given to a poor man and he doesn't know how to deal with this great fortune.

Antonio 7T