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Sumit Singla's Reviews > The Pearl
The Pearl
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by
This is the first John Steinbeck book I've read - been meaning to read 'Of Mice and Men' and 'The Grapes of Wrath', but well, never really got round to doing so.
The book (or novella, if you want to be more technically accurate) is the story of Kino and his wife, Juana. Kino is a poor pearl diver, who lives outside the bounds of the town along with other people like him (American Indians).
The two don't have a life of comfort, but they are happy and united in their love for each other and their little son Coyotito. Their lives are complete and Kino feels this through 'songs' bubbling up in him.
It's all hunky-dory, till little Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion. At Juana's insistence, Kino goes to a (white) doctor in the town, who refuses to see Coyotito. Having been treated like an animal by the white population, Kino is angered and possibly, betrayed. He begins to believe that money and education will make him acceptable to the 'superior' population.
The story deals with the transformation in Kino after he finds a pearl the size of a gull's egg. Steinbeck masterfully describes the change in Kino, his friends and neighbors, and even the townspeople including the priest and the doctor.
The rise of the animal within Kino is what makes this a powerful, thought-provoking story. As relatively privileged citizens of society, some of us tend to look down upon people who aren't as well-off as us and justify their condition by thinking that they probably deserve what they have because they didn't invest in quality education, and probably didn't work hard enough.
However, Steinbeck warns us to be careful what we wish for - because the evil within humans comes to the fore over questions of money and riches.
Even though it's only about a 100 pages, it reinforces my belief in wanting to read more of Steinbeck. His lovely prose is a joy to read. Probably not his best, but definitely promising.
P.S. For readers familiar with the work of Munshi Premchand, you can probably draw parallels between the works of Steinbeck and Premchand. (view spoiler)
The book (or novella, if you want to be more technically accurate) is the story of Kino and his wife, Juana. Kino is a poor pearl diver, who lives outside the bounds of the town along with other people like him (American Indians).
The two don't have a life of comfort, but they are happy and united in their love for each other and their little son Coyotito. Their lives are complete and Kino feels this through 'songs' bubbling up in him.
It's all hunky-dory, till little Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion. At Juana's insistence, Kino goes to a (white) doctor in the town, who refuses to see Coyotito. Having been treated like an animal by the white population, Kino is angered and possibly, betrayed. He begins to believe that money and education will make him acceptable to the 'superior' population.
The story deals with the transformation in Kino after he finds a pearl the size of a gull's egg. Steinbeck masterfully describes the change in Kino, his friends and neighbors, and even the townspeople including the priest and the doctor.
The rise of the animal within Kino is what makes this a powerful, thought-provoking story. As relatively privileged citizens of society, some of us tend to look down upon people who aren't as well-off as us and justify their condition by thinking that they probably deserve what they have because they didn't invest in quality education, and probably didn't work hard enough.
However, Steinbeck warns us to be careful what we wish for - because the evil within humans comes to the fore over questions of money and riches.
Even though it's only about a 100 pages, it reinforces my belief in wanting to read more of Steinbeck. His lovely prose is a joy to read. Probably not his best, but definitely promising.
P.S. For readers familiar with the work of Munshi Premchand, you can probably draw parallels between the works of Steinbeck and Premchand. (view spoiler)
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