A Poor Man's Treasure
This is the name of Kino’s wife, known for her devotion and quiet strength.
Who is Juana?
Kino finds the great pearl while diving in search of one to pay for this.
What is Coyotito’s medical treatment?
Coyotito’s trouble begins when he is stung by this creature.
What is a scorpion?
The news of the pearl spreads this way, faster than anything else in the village.
What is gossip (or word of mouth)?
The sea represents both life and this opposite force.
What is danger (or death)?
Kino’s people live near this large body of water, which provides their livelihood.
What is the Gulf (of California)?
After Kino finds the pearl, people begin to call it by this grand name.
What is “The Pearl of the World”?
The villagers believe that this force determines luck and misfortune.
What is fate (or the will of the gods)?
When the priest hears about the pearl, he hopes Kino will remember this.
What is the church (or God)?
Kino’s canoe is a family heirloom and a symbol of this ancestral value.
What is tradition (or survival)?
The family’s morning routine includes this musical symbol of peace and unity.
What is the Song of the Family?
This emotion spreads through the town when word of the pearl gets out.
What is greed (or envy)?
Juana tries to treat Coyotito’s wound with this natural remedy.
What is seaweed (a poultice)?
The doctor decides to visit Kino after hearing this rumor.
What is that Kino has found the Pearl of the World?
Steinbeck uses these recurring “songs” to show Kino’s inner emotions.
What are motifs (or musical symbols)?
This is Kino’s profession, passed down through generations.
What is a pearl diver?
Kino dreams that the pearl will allow Coyotito to do this, something Kino never could.
What is go to school (get an education)?
The doctor refuses to treat Coyotito at first because Kino cannot pay in this form.
What is money (or coins)?
These people, who once ignored Kino, now act friendly in hopes of profiting.
Who are the townspeople (or neighbors)?
As Kino dives, he sees tiny fish and crawling creatures moving in perfect rhythm, representing this theme.
What is harmony in the natural world (or the interconnectedness of life)(or the balance of nature and order)?
Kino’s simple brush house represents this key theme of the novel.
What is contentment with simplicity / harmony with nature?
The pearl symbolizes both hope and this darker human tendency.
What is greed or corruption?
The scorpion’s sting is an early example of this literary device suggesting an upcoming tragedy.
What is foreshadowing (or symbolism)?
The doctor’s manipulation of Coyotito’s illness symbolizes this moral decay in society.
What is greed (or corruption of power)?
The predators lurking beneath the waves—waiting to strike weaker fish—mirror this destructive human force that surfaces after Kino finds the pearl.
What is greed (or corruption of human nature)?