The Pearl

Who is the main character in the story? With references to the text, give an account of why you consider him or her so.

Forged in the furnace of the imagination of John Steinbeck, ‘The Pearl’ is a novel that was splendidfully narrated by him in the 20^th century. It depicts the lives of the native Mexican Indians who were under colonial rule of the atrocious and oppressive Spanish. I think that Kino, the protagonist in this novel should be the main character in this particular novel as he explicit the following attributes.

Among the reason on why I think Kino is the main character is primarily based on the factor that he is the dominating figure in his family and a caring person. Kino, who is born a man, naturally takes the helm of his family of three. He is known as the head of the family. He is the breadwinner of his family as he brings income and necessities to the family. Kino’s wife, Juana is unemployed as most women in that era do. This is by virtue of the thinking of the people at that women must only occupy themselves with house chores. Juana has to juggle between taking care of Coyotito, their first born baby and the labourious task of house labour. Besides that, he loves his so much that he brought him to the doctor. This act defies the norm of the society that Kino is associated with. The doctor, a rich and arrogant being, refuses to treat Coyotito and roared at that instance “Have I nothing better to do than cure insect bites for “little Indians”? I’m a doctor, not a veterinarian.” When the manservant conveys the matter of payment, Kino could only produce “eight small misshapen seed pearls” which are worthless. These acts truly display why I firmly believe Kino is worthy to be the main character of the story. This goes to show that in many instances Kino not only imply as the head of the family, he too is a humble and caring person.

Moreover, I am able to fathom Kino is a person who is courageous and brave. He does pretty well in protecting his family from harm’s way. This is unambiguously shown in the novel where Kino spots o balck scorpion which he fails to grab hold of and falls plumb into the hanging box where Coyotito is laying. The scorpion, in the act of self-defense, stings Coyotito in the shoulder. Acting upon instinct, Kino instantaneously seizes the scorpion and starts “rubbing it into a paste”. Kino’s ability to go further to protect his family truly deserves my plaudits and it is further strengthened by the fact that he manages to attack and wounds the intruders in their attempt to dislodge the pearl from Kino’s hold. The news of Kino’s find reverberates in the town of La Paz by almost everyone. Everyone will want that pearl for themselves and the list includes the doctor and the pearl dealers. In one occasion, an intruder breaks into Kino’s shack. Unnoticeable by the intruder, Kino is able to sense him and he attacks the intruder. A scuffle evokes between them. Although the intruder manages to escape from Kino, Kino manifests a selfless act of willing to fight until the end in order to protect his family from wicked way that are thrown to them. These evidences portray the heroism and the manliness in Kino that makes him my undisputed choice of the main character in this lovely novel.

The belief in me that Kino is the right person to be the main character is further boosted by the fact that he does not succumb easily to pressure. As we all know what pressure does to all mankind, it is the same what pressure does to Kino. For an instant, after finding the pearl, he tries to sell off the pearl to the local pearl dealers. Unknown to him, these unscrupulous pearl dealers ink a pact by oppressing the price of the pearl to a nominal value. Hoping that he will fall prey to this scheme, their hopes are dashed when Kino demands more money for the pearl. Even though he needs money badly to pay his son’s scorpion bite treatment, he does not give in to them. This leads them trailing him wherever he goes with the pearl. Ultimately, he becomes a fugitive together with his family. What truly sets him apart from other men is that he does not budge under severe provocations from the pearl dealers. He would rather dispose of the pearl and to lose his entire meticulous plan he has mastered than to let it fall into the hands of the pearl dealers, whom he regards as thieves and touts.

In a nutshell, it is undeniable and legitimately to deny Kino a rightful honour of being the main character as he has throughout in this novel impresses me with being the dominating figure in his family and also being a caring person. Furthermore, it is also absurd to say that he is not a courageous and brave person as he has again shine in this segment. Last but not least, he is a man of steel with a heart made up of iron. He does not fall prey to pressure; instead he has done wonderfully in impressing me and majority of readers like you. Kino again and again never fails to inspire me and will always be my choice of the main character of this novel.

By Victor Wong Vun Choy [2009]