Characters & Roles
This baby is the heart of Kino and Juana’s world and is innocent of the greed around him.
Who is Coyotito?
The creature that initially stings Coyotito and sets the central conflict into motion.
What is a scorpion?
"This pearl is a sin. It will destroy us."
Who is Juana?
John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is categorized as this type of short novel.
What is a novella?
The geographic and cultural setting of Kino's native village.
What is a Mexican coastal village along the Gulf?
He is the primary protagonist of the novella who dives for a great fortune to save his son.
Who is Kino?
The one single object of worldly value that Kino possesses before discovering the pearl.
What is his canoe?
"When I have sold my pearl, I will pay you."
Who is Kino?
Figurative language seen in the phrase: "The music of the pearl rose like a chorus of trumpets in his ears."
What is a simile?
The colonial group in authority that treats Kino’s native people condescendingly, viewing them as simple "children".
Who are the Spanish / the priest and the doctor?
Kino’s loyal brother who warns him about destroying his community's traditional order by refusing the pearl buyers' price.
Who is Juan Tomás?
Juana’s immediate practical remedy for Coyotito’s swelling shoulder before they even go to see the doctor.
What is a seaweed poultice (or sucking out the poison)?
"I can give you a thousand pesos."
Who is the pearl buyer?
Giving human traits to non-human things, as seen in the quote: "A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet."
What is personification?
At the start of the story, the pearl symbolizes hope and a bright future, but by the end, it symbolizes this.
What is evil, destruction, greed, or human misfortune?
The group of local observers sitting outside the church who instantly know every secret, crime, and piece of town gossip.
Who are the four beggars?
The specific trick used by the pearl buyers in La Paz to exploit Kino and his fellow villagers.
What is colluding/fixing prices together under one master to make it look like multiple independent buyers?
"I was not in when you came this morning."
Who is the doctor?
Early warning signs in the text—such as Juana declaring the pearl evil—that hint at the eventual tragic outcome.
What is foreshadowing?
Among all the material things Kino hopes the pearl will buy, this specific goal for Coyotito is the one that threatens to break their social oppression.
What is an education / learning to read?
Kino’s sister-in-law (Juan Tomás's wife) who helps hide Kino’s family after their brush house is destroyed.
Who is Apolonia?
Juana’s response when Kino urges her to separate from him and take Coyotito to safety while being tracked.
What is refusing to leave his side / insisting that the family stay together?
"We do know that we are cheated from birth to the overcharge on our coffins. But we survive."
Who is Juan Tomas?
The central literary element represented by internal sounds like "The Song of the Family" or "The Song of Evil" in Kino's mind.
What is auditory imagery / motif / symbolism?
How Kino ultimately realizes his child has been killed in the mountain cave.
What is hearing Juana’s "keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry"?