The Pearl

1
The Pearl

• Chapters 1-2

2
Chapter 1

• Why do you think Steinbeck calls our attention to
  the word parable in his preface?
• He wants us to look for the symbolic meaning in
  the story in order to discern additional meaning.

3

• Who would you guess the antagonists will be?
• Steinbeck writes of the race which had beaten
  and starved and robbed and despised Kinos
  people for nearly four hundred years (pg. 9). The
  Spanish.

4

• What is the song Kino hears in the morning when
  he rises, and what does it suggest about how he
  is feeling? Pg. 2
• He hears the Song of the Family and it seems to
  suggest that he is at peace with his environment
  and happy with his life and his family.

5
Songs

• Throughout the novel, whenever Kino has a
  particularly powerful feeling or instinct, he
  hears a song in his head that corresponds to that
  feeling.
• When he is happy with the family, for instance,
  he hears the Song of the Family.
• When he senses dishonesty or malice (ill will),
  he hears the Song of Evil. Pg. 5

6

• These songs point to the oral nature of Kinos
  cultural tradition. The ancient, familiar songs,
  handed down from generation to generation, occupy
  such a central place in how Kinos people
  perceive themselves that the songs actually give
  form to their inner feelings.

7

• How does Juanas reaction to the scorpion show
  two sides of the Indian culture? Pg. 5
• She says the Catholic prayer, Hail Mary, right
  after saying an ancient magic curse that is part
  of the old pagan religion.

8

• How are the homes of the poor distinguished from
  the homes of the rich?
• The poor live in brush houses, while the rich
  live in concrete ones.

9

• How is the doctor described? Pg. 9-10
• Note the intense description Steinbeck gives the
  reader in contrast to Kino.
• What does the doctors comment about treating
  Indians reveal about his attitude toward them?
  How is the comment also an example of irony?
• Pg. 11 not a veterinary He is implying
  Indians are no more than animals. It is ironic
  because doctors are supposed to have no higher
  duty than to cure.

10
Chapter 2

• How is a canoe a bulwark against starvation?
• How is a pearl formed?

11

• Contrast Kinos reactions (in the previous
  chapter) over his frustration with the doctors to
  Juanas reaction. What can you infer from this?
• Kino uselessly smashes his fist against the
  doctors gate. Juana, however, makes a medical
  poultice for the babys shoulder. Pg. 15
• The inference is that Kino reacts foolishly and
  emotionally while Juana is a person who thinks
  about her actions and responds intellectually.

12

• What does Juana pray for and why does she pray
  for it? Why is it odd?
• She wants a pearl of value, so they can get the
  doctor to treat the baby. Juana does not pray
  directly for the recovery of the baby, as most
  people would. Pg. 15

13

• On what two discoveries does Chapter 2 end?
• 1) The babys swelling goes down.
• 2) Kino finds the pearl.

14

• In this Gulf of uncertain light there were
  more illusions than realities. Pg. 19
• How does this quotation fit with the theme of
  appearance vs. reality?
• In this story, things do not always turn out
  to be what they seem. The reality is often quite
  different from what it first appears to be.