The Pearl by John Steinbeck

 

Summary (from the publisher): A retelling of an old Mexican folk tale involving the discovery of a great pearl and the ensuing misfortune of the fisherman who found it.

Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. Over the next year, his many works published as black-spine Penguin Classics for the first time and will feature eye-catching, newly commissioned art. Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readers and to the many who revisit them again and again.

Review: In this short novella, a poor Mexican pearl diver wakens in the contentment of his modest home, happy to be with his wife and baby, and the small but tightknit community around him. Tragedy strikes when the baby is struck by a scorpion and then the white physician in the town refuses to treat him. His luck changes when he finds a massive pearl and he begins to imagine this is what will change his life - he will be able to pay the doctor, he and his wife will have a wedding, his son will learn to read. But greed closes in on him and his family, as others try over and over to take advantage of him and rob him of his great find: "It is not good to want a thing too much. It sometimes drives the luck away" (18). 

This reads more like a parable than a fully bodied story. It was an interesting look at how quickly people can be moved from contentment to wishing for more, and also the hazards that threaten us when we have something to lose and something others want. "For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have" (25). In a cruel twist, the great find, that Kino believes will be his family's salvation and lift up into a greater lifestyle is actually the downfall of his happiness. 

There are a lot of references to Kino hearing different songs as the story progresses: "But the Song of the Family had become as fierce and sharp and feline as the snarl of a female puma. The family song was alive now and driving him down on the dark enemy" (84). Culturally, I believe Kino's community is heavily influenced by story writing within songs, especially given the absence of literacy. But it also represents the driving force behind Kino's actions. While he hears other songs throughout the book, the song of the family is the most common and the most prevalent, emphasizing what he values the most. 

This was much more violent and far more tragic than I anticipated. The ending absolutely crushed me. Kino and his wife suffer seemingly for no reason and no fault of their own. It is implied that greed did them in, but their dreams were modest and their find was just luck. It was truly the greed of those around them that forever crushed the contentment of the once happy family. I can't say I enjoyed reading this, but I did appreciate the story. 

Stars: 3.5