“The Pearl of the World” first appeared in Women’s Home Companion in 1945. The 1947 revised version, The Pearl, gained immediate critical and popular attention. During the following years, the novella was attacked by some, such as Warren French in his article on Steinbeck, as being too “sentimental.” Many readers, however, continued throughout the twentieth…
Tag: John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Setting
Pearl Diving in La Paz La Paz (meaning “peace” in Spanish) is in the Mexican state of Southern Baja California on the Sea of Cortez. For several centuries, the area was famous for its pearl diving and was known as “The City of Pearls.” The oyster beds, however, became diseased and died out in the…
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Literary Devices
Parable A parable is a story designed to illustrate a lesson or moral. Steinbeck notes at the beginning of The Pearl that the story of Kino and the pearl has been told so often, “it has taken root in every man’s mind” and “heart.” He characterizes the story as a parable when he explains that…
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Themes
Greed His obsession with the pearl is prompted by his desire for respect and power, but most importantly for the education of his child. He wants to be able to marry Juana, to buy a rifle that can “[break] down the barriers,” to dress his family in nice clothes, and finally to enable his son…
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Characters
Coyotito Coyotito, Kino and Juana’s infant son, is the catalyst for his parents’ obsession with the pearl. Both of his parents want the pearl to help pay for his recovery from the scorpion sting and for his education, so that he will not be limited by the same oppression under which his parents have suffered….
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Summary
Chapter 1 The Pearl begins as Kino, a Mexican pearl diver in the village of La Paz on the gulf of California, awakes before morning. His wife Juana and child Coyotito lie nearby in their brush house. Kino contentedly listens to the waves on the beach and declares “it was very good.” His ancestors had…
Book Review: Dust Bowl, USA: Depression America and the Ecological Imagination, 1929-1941 by Brad Lookingbill
During the 1930s, the American Midwest region witnessed one of its most acute agricultural droughts in the history of the nation. But this tragic event does not get as much attention as it deserves in history textbooks. The main reason for this is its coincidence with the Great Depression that precipitated in 1929 with the…
John Steinbeck: His Life and His Works
Introduction: John Steinbeck is arguably the most prominent littérateur of his generation to have adopted the cause of working class America. His most famous work The Grapes of Wrath depicts the everyday travails of a westward migrating white American family in search of better economic opportunities. Of Mice and Men, another prominent work, is a…
Steinbeck’s depiction of the struggle of Agricultural workers during the Depression, his role as a social commentator, and its impact upon his work:
John Steinbeck is arguably the most prominent littérateur of his generation to have adopted the cause of working class America that was struggling to survive the harsh realities of the Great Depression. His most famous work The Grapes of Wrath depicts the everyday travails of a westward migrating white American family in search of better…