English : Presentation - The Pearl, John Steinbeck

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under a single master buyer “Now they was only one pearl buyer with many hands” p. 44 l.10-11

They have conspired to give Kino the lowest price possible “if it be a man’s function to break down a price, then he must take joy and satisfaction in breaking it as far down as possible”p. 44 l.17-18 Also “.. the best and happiest pearl buyer was he who bought for the lowest price” p. 44 l.23-24

Finally are obviously very happy and excited about Kino’s great pearl. We can see that on page 44 with the words “joy” and “satisfaction” l.17 and with the superlatives “best” and “happiest” l.23 which amplifies the joy.

Juan Tomás :

He is Kino’s advisor p. 47 l.4 “You must be very careful” That also shows that he is deeply loyal to his family and that he cares about his brother. He warns Kino that the pearl buyers are most likely to cheat on him.

He is also worried and nervous p. 47 l. 8-9 “How can we know what is a fair price if we don’t know what the pearl buyers gets for the pearl in another place” He questions himself and Kino. “in pure nervousness” l.14

The neighbours :

They often assemble as a procession to follow the family. p.46 l.30-31 “And as they marched up the freshet-washed alley toward the town, the neighbours joined them” We can relate this sentence to chapter 1 p.11 when Kino and Juana went to town to see the doctor. The neighbours were also there. “They went out of the gate to the rutted path and the neighbours followed them” l.15-16

Their primary function is to listen p.43 l.15 “It was known among the neighbours in the brush huts”, observe p. 46 l.6-7 “The neighbours, watching Kino’s door through the crevices in their brush houses..”, comment p.45 l.5-7 “Kino’s neighbours sat long over their breakfast and they spoke of what they would do if the had found the pearl” and to spread the news p. 43 l.11.12 “Then every unit communicates to the whole.” We’ll explain what unit means later

Themes

The first theme we came up with is Community

Community :

“then every unit communicates to the whole” on p.43 l.9-8 . Here again, Steinbeck compares the town to a larger unit, community in which no single action is unnoticed.

“they would be crazy if they didn’t go. It would be almost a sign of unfriendship” on p. 46 l.6-7 -> Here it shows that the pearl selling isn’t only an event for Kino’s family but for everyone in the town. It occupies everyone’s mind.

“Now there was only one pearl buyer” p.44 l.10-11 -> The pearl buyers have changed their way to buy the pearls and now they work together.

Finally, on the last page (48) the town and neighbours of Kino’s family make a procession through the streets. “The gathering procession was solemn” l.18. We can see here that the procession is very serious and intense. As said before, the town makes one community, and everyone is ,in a way, touched and related by this day.

procession : cortège

Oppression and Manipulation:

The fishermen are being manipulated by the Pearl buyers , who are supposed to work alone but now work together , and plan each selling. Page 44 ”the men who sat in their offices and waited for Kino knew what price they would offer, how high they would bid and what method each one would use .” The pearl dealers, who symbolize the ruling elite classes, proves to be another example of a manipulative professional men, like the priest and the doctor.

“The brothers, as they walked along, squinted their eyes, as they and their grandfathers and their great-grandfathers had done for four hundred years, since the first strangers came with argument and authority and gunpowder to back up both.” p.48 l.9-13

Here it shows that the author goes back , when the native from Mexico have endured the lowest position of the social hierarchy, including its exploitation of financial and moral terms, as said in the text, for four hundred years since the first Europeans arrived.

On p.48 l.14 - 15 we can also see that oppression “Kino’s people only one defense - a slight slitting of the eyes and a slight tightening of the lips“ Kino has a stolid facial expression and his people only defense against the European.

Religion :

Firstly on p.45 l.8 “And one man said that he would give it as a present to the Holy Father in Rome.” then the fact that Juana dresses Coyotito in his future baptism clothes p.45 l.30 These two statements show that the christian religion , which was brought by the european, has been integrated in their culture. It has become very important and has a symbolic role.

Then Kino talks about God (on p.47 l.32-33) “The loss of the pearl was a punishment visited on those who tried to leave their station”). He declares that every human has a special status given by God and he/she has to respect it. We can also see in this statement, which is a sermon said by the priest ,that Kino is being manipulated by the Father . Kino has internalized the Father’s values as his own, indicating his increasing Christian convictions.

(We get a rather condemning view of religion, through the priest who uses religion to oppress the natives of La Paz and who tries to take advantage of the Kino’s new-found wealth.)