The Pearl

I am always totally jazzed when I read a book that I really loved.  So was the case with John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, which he takes from a Mexican folklore tale.  How did I miss this book along my reading days?  And only getting on the list now?  A short novella of sorts that has a BIG message, focus on the relationships and what we have, not on what we don’t have.  In the end greed will bring you down and so it does in this story.  Kino (the protagonist) is a humble poor man living with his wife and son along the ocean.  One day his son, Coyotito, is stung by a sea scorpion and needs to be taken to the doctor to be cured.  He is and Kino promises that he will pay him back as soon as he can, since he just found a very valuable pearl from the ocean and plans on selling it.  The doctor offers to take it in exchange for the services offered, but Kino believes he can make so much more.  Kino and his family face robbers, business men who want to rip them off in a sale of the pearl and other calamities in holding on to the pearl, including the destruction of their home and Kino killing a man in self-defense for the pearl.  Finally in a last attempt to get to the city to receive a “fair rate” for the pearl, Coyotito is killed by an errant gun while Kino is trying to protect the pearl.  This short story is truly a metaphor for how we need to balance material goods with the personal relationships we each have the opportunity to make paramount.  The story flows well and should be read by every person who spends more time counting their 401 account than spending time with their kids, their best friends, etc.  Thank you Mr. Steinbeck for this great tale being memorialized on paper.  A must read!