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Kino killed them to protect his family and the pearl and the dream of the future that the pearl provided, but his dream and his family are destroyed when Coyotito dies. But that great dream is destroyed when Coyotito is killed by a gunshot while Kino is killing the trackers who are following them.
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Kino expects that the pearl will purchase great things for his family, the greatest being an education for his son so that they cannot be cheated by the merchants and the other upper class citizens of La Paz who have taken advantage of Kino's people for four hundred years. When the doctor hears about Kino's pearl, he comes to treat Coyotito. Unfortunately, the local doctor will not treat the baby because Kino has no money. Juana also symbolizes the family’s domestic happiness the scene in which Kino beats her for trying to cast off the pearl thus represents Kino’s tragic break from the family he longs to support.Ĭoyotito is Kino and Juana's first-born child who is stung by a scorpion and needs medical treatment. Juana thus serves an important function in the novella-she counterbalances Kino’s enthusiasm and reminds the reader that Kino’s desire to make money is dangerous. Kino can see only what they have to gain from the pearl, but Juana can see also what they stand to lose, and she wisely prefers to protect what she has rather than sacrifice it all for a dream. Whereas Kino seeks to transform his existence, Juana believes that their lives will be better if they keep things as they are. In fact, Juana comes to view the pearl as a symbol of evil.Īs the novella progresses, Juana becomes certain that the limitations, rules, and customs of her society must be upheld. Like Kino, Juana is at first seduced by the greed the pearl awakens, but she is much quicker than Kino to recognize the pearl as a potential threat. Juana is loyal and submissive, obeying her husband as her culture dictates, but she does not always agree with his actions. She prays for divine aid when Coyotito’s wound leaves Kino impotent with rage, and she also has the presence of mind to salve the wound with a seaweed poultice. Kino’s wife, Juana, is more reflective and more practical than Kino. Kino’s ruin, caused by his lust for the pearl, illustrates the extent to which ambition and greed poison and jeopardize every aspect of a human’s familial, cultural, and personal well-being. But on the most basic level, Kino represents the dangers of ambition and greed.
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It can be seen as a critique of colonial politics, an exploration of how good motives can bring a person to a bad end, or even an attack on the idea of the American dream. At the end of the novella, Kino’s tranquil relationship with nature has been perverted and reversed, a change signified by the fact that Kino finds the sounds of the animals at night threatening rather than reassuring.īecause The Pearl is a parable, Kino’s character can be interpreted in many ways. The forces propelling this decline are ambition and greed. The basic trajectory of Kino’s character is a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of corruption and disillusionment.
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As Kino begins to covet material wealth and education for his son, his simple existence becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence. However, two seemingly chance occurrences-Coyotito’s scorpion sting and Kino’s discovery of the pearl-open Kino’s eyes to a larger world. Kino also possesses a quick mind and a strong work ethic, and he feels a close, pure kinship with the natural world, the source of his livelihood.Īt the beginning of the novella, Kino is essentially content with his life. Kino, The Pearl’s protagonist, is an extremely simple character, motivated by basic drives: his love for his family, loyalty to the traditions of his village and his people, and frustration at his people’s oppression at the hands of their European colonizers.