by John Steinbeck
The pearl study guide.
John Steinbeck wrote The Pearl during the time in which he was at the height of his fame. He had completed The Grapes of Wrath , for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was renowned and reviled as a subversive, unpatriotic man who threatened the national interest through the socialist themes of his novels. This view of Steinbeck was inconsistent with his soft-spoken nature, but by 1944, when Steinbeck began to write The Pearl, Steinbeck had come to reconcile this aspect of his fame.
Steinbeck wrote The Pearl based on his personal convictions, and based the story on the biblical parable of a ?pearl of great price.' In this story, a jewel for which the merchant trades everything he owns becomes the metaphor for Heaven. Everything in the merchant's earthly existence, however, becomes worthless when compared to the joys of living with God in Heaven. However, Steinbeck uses the parable as a meditation on the American dream of success. Steinbeck, who himself had risen quickly to prosperity, explores how Kino , the protagonist of The Pearl, deals with his newfound prominence in the community and riches.
Steinbeck found a second inspiration for The Pearl in the tale of a young Mexican boy told in Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez. However, the boy in the original form of the story wished to use the pearl to buy clothing, alcohol and sex. The story contains several similar plot points, including the rapacious dealers and the attacks on the boy to find the pearl, that would recur in the story's final form.
The Pearl derives much of its force from the descriptions of the impoverished lifestyle of the Mexicans of La Paz, the location of the story. The plight of the impoverished is a consistent theme in Steinbeck's work, including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men . Although these novels dealt with white protagonists, Steinbeck turned to the plight of Mexicans for The Pearl based on the 1942 and 1943 Zoot Suit Race Riots in Los Angeles.
By the time that Steinbeck wrote The Pearl, he had gained an interest in writing screenplays, and thus wrote the novel in a form suitable for easy adaptation to film. The story has a simple plot structure and an economy of characters, but unlike The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and East of Eden , Steinbeck did not adapt The Pearl. Instead, Steinbeck focused on screenplays written originally for the screen for his subsequent works.
The Pearl Questions and Answers
The Question and Answer section for The Pearl is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
List the reasons the pearl dealers gave for giving Kino such a low price for the pearl.
From the text:
"You have heard of fool's gold," the dealer said. "This 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. I am sorry. You thought it was a thing of value, and...
1. Pg. 37: "Coyotito was reading from a book as large as a house, with letters as big as dogs, and the words galloped and played on the book." (There is more than one here; you can choose whichever one you like.) 2. "Pg. 38: "She uncovered an ember from
I'm sorry, what is your question?
-other pearl divers
-rest of the people in village
Study Guide for The Pearl
The Pearl study guide contains a biography of John Steinbeck, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
- About The Pearl
- The Pearl Summary
- The Pearl Video
- Character List
- Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis
Essays for The Pearl
The Pearl literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Pearl.
- The Pearl versus The Secret River
- The Pearl: Symbolism Analysis
- A Dollar Cannot Buy a Smile: Riches vs. Happiness in 'The Pearl'
- Women as a Voice of Reason in John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”
- An Analysis of Imagery and Mood in John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”
Lesson Plan for The Pearl
- About the Author
- Study Objectives
- Common Core Standards
- Introduction to The Pearl
- Relationship to Other Books
- Bringing in Technology
- Notes to the Teacher
- Related Links
- The Pearl Bibliography
Wikipedia Entries for The Pearl
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John Steinbeck
Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on John Steinbeck's The Pearl . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
The Pearl: Introduction
The pearl: plot summary, the pearl: detailed summary & analysis, the pearl: themes, the pearl: quotes, the pearl: characters, the pearl: symbols, the pearl: theme wheel, brief biography of john steinbeck.
Historical Context of The Pearl
Other books related to the pearl.
- Full Title: The Pearl
- When Written: 1944
- Where Written: California
- When Published: 1947
- Literary Period: Modernist novel
- Genre: Novella/ Parable
- Setting: La Paz, Baja California Sur
- Climax: Kino’s beating of Juana and his killing of a man in protection of the pearl
- Point of View: Third person (from the perspective of the villagers who pass down the tale through generations)
Extra Credit for The Pearl
From Kino to Kino. It is assumed that Kino was named after Eusebius Kino, a Jesuit missionary who explored the Gulf region in the 17th century.
From Film to Fiction. Steinbeck wrote The Pearl on an invitation from Emilio Fernandez, a well-known Mexican filmmaker, to write a screenplay depicting Mexican life. In consequence, The Pearl features few characters, simple and intense action, and cinematic viewpoints.
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