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 passed their songs down from generation to generation to Kino, who this morning has the “Song of Family” in his mind. Juana rises and makes breakfast for the family, as she does every morning, and sings part of the Family Song.

 Suddenly Kino sees a scorpion crawling  down one of the ropes that holds the baby’s  cradle, and a new song, a “Song of Evil,” enters his head. He lunges at it but is too late and the scorpion stings Coyotito. Juana immediately tries to suck out the poison from the wound, but the area begins to swell. She and Kino take the baby to the doctor in town, along with many neighbors who have come to watch, but because they have  no money, he will not see them. Filled with  shame and rage, Kino smashes his fist against the doctor’s gate.

 Chapter 2

 After Kino and his family return to their fishing village, Juana places a seaweed poultice on the baby’s wound and prays that Kino will find a pearl that would pay for the doctor. That afternoon when Kino goes diving, he finds the largest pearl he has ever seen, “The Pearl of the World,” “as large as a sea-gull’s egg” and as “perfect as the moon,” and he howls with joy.

 Chapter 3

 Soon the entire town knows of the pearl, speculating on what it is worth. All suddenly are interested in Kino as the pearl “stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town.” Kino had  become “curiously every man’s enemy,” but he  and Juana are oblivious to the town’s dark thoughts. They dream of what they can do with the  money they will gain when they sell the pearl, deciding that they will be able to get married and buy new clothes and get their son an education, which will grant him freedom. Kino, however, begins to hear the “Evil Song” as he thinks others will try to steal the pearl from him and so he makes “a hard skin for himself against the world.” When the doctor hears the news, he reminisces of his past life in Paris and decides that he will take Coyotito as a patient and so get his hands on some of the money from the pearl. He comes to the brush house and warns Kino and Juana that the poison may still be inside their son but that he can help. After the doctor forces Coyotito to swallow what he insists is medicine to drive the poison out, Coyotito becomes ill. Soon, however, he appears to recover and the doctor demands payment. Kino determines to sell the pearl the next day. That night, though, someone comes to the hut to try to steal the it. Kino scares him away but not before he is hit in the head. Juana warns that the pearl is a “sin” and will destroy them, but Kino insists it is their only chance to send Coyotito to school.

 Chapter 4

 The townspeople follow Kino into town on his journey to meet with the pearl buyers and speculate about what they would buy with the money he will earn for it. The first buyer offers only 1000 pesos, claiming that the pearl is “fool’s gold” and has little value. When Kino refuses the offer and insists that it is worth 50,000 pesos, the buyer calls others in to make bids, but they also determine the pearl to be worthless. Kino declares that he is being cheated and vows to journey to the capital to sell it even though he is afraid to go there. His neighbors are unsure about whether Kino has been cheated or whether he is being greedy. That evening when Kino is again attacked by robbers outside his brush house, Juana pleads with him to destroy the pearl, but he refuses, insisting that he “is a man” and so can handle any trouble they may face.

 Chapter 5

 In the middle of the night Juana arises and takes the pearl to the water, ready to throw it in. Kino, however, stops her just in time, grabs the pearl and beats her in an animalistic rage. On his way back to the brush house, he is sickened by what he has done. On the trail assassins attack him, but this time he kills one of the men. Juana realizes that at this point, “the old life was gone forever.” Realizing that he will be accused of murder, Kino decides that they must flee and turns to his brother Juan Tomas and his wife for help. Kino admits, “This pearl has become my soul. . . . If I give it up I shall lose my soul.” Kino and his family travel up the coast but soon realize that trackers are following them. In an effort to lose them, they head into the mountains. At one point, Kino considers turning himself in to save his family, but Juana convinces him that the trackers would kill all of them to get the pearl.

 Chapter 6

 The family stops near caves to rest, but the trackers eventually catch up with them. Under the cover of darkness, Kino tries to jump one of the men while the other two are sleeping. He is able to kill all three, but a random rifle shot during the struggle hits Coyotito, killing him. Kino and Juana return to La Paz, devastated at the loss of their son, appearing as if “removed from human experience.” Hearing the Song of the  Family ringing in his ears like “a battle cry,” Kino grasps the pearl, which has become “gray and ulcerous” with “evil faces” peering from it. When he tries to give it to Juana, she insists, “no you.” Kino then throws it with all of his might into the green water, and it disappears.

Source:

Ira Mark Milne – Short Stories for Students – Presenting Analysis, Context & Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories, vol. 22, John Steinbeck, Published by Gale Group, 2010