Compiled by: Wilhelm P.

Hango <Extreme Tutorial Centre>

Plot Overview

Kino, Juana, and their infant son, Coyotito, live in a modest brush house by the sea. One
morning, calamity strikes when a scorpion stings Coyotito. Hoping to protect their son, Kino
and Juana rush him to the doctor in town. When they arrive at the doctor’s gate, they are
turned away because they are poor natives who cannot pay enough.
Later that same morning, Kino and Juana take their family canoe, an heirloom, out to the
estuary to go diving for pearls. Juana makes a poultice for Coyotito’s wound, while Kino
searches the sea bottom. Juana’s prayers for a large pearl are answered when Kino surfaces
with the largest pearl either of them has ever seen. Kino lets out a triumphant yell at his good
fortune, prompting the surrounding boats to circle in and examine the treasure.

In the afternoon, the whole neighborhood gathers at Kino’s brush house to celebrate his find.
Kino names a list of things that he will secure for his family with his newfound wealth, including
a church wedding and an education for his son. The neighbors marvel at Kino’s boldness and
wonder if he is foolish or wise to harbor such ambitions.

Toward evening, the local priest visits Kino to bless him in his good fortune and to remind him
of his place within the church. Shortly thereafter, the doctor arrives, explaining that he was out
in the morning but has come now to cure Coyotito. He administers a powdered capsule and
promises to return in an hour.

In the intervening period, Coyotito grows violently ill, and Kino decides to bury the pearl under
the floor in a corner of the brush house. The doctor returns and feeds Coyotito a potion to
quiet his spasms. When the doctor inquires about payment, Kino explains that soon he will sell
his large pearl and inadvertently glances toward the corner where he has hidden the pearl.
This mention of the pearl greatly intrigues the doctor, and Kino is left with an uneasy feeling.

Before going to bed, Kino reburies the pearl under his sleeping mat. That night, he is roused by
an intruder digging around in the corner. A violent struggle ensues, and Kino’s efforts to chase
away the criminal leave him bloodied. Terribly upset by this turn of events, Juana proposes
that they abandon the pearl, which she considers an agent of evil.

The next morning, Kino and Juana make their way to town to sell the pearl. Juan Tomás, Kino’s
brother, advises Kino to be wary of cheats. Indeed, all of the dealers conspire to bid low on the

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pearl. Kino indignantly refuses to accept their offers, resolving instead to take his pearl to the
capital. That evening, as Kino and Juana prepare to leave, Juan Tomás cautions Kino against
being overly proud, and Juana repeats her wish to be rid of the pearl. Kino silences her,
explaining that he is a man and will take care of things.

In the middle of the night, Juana steals away with the pearl. Kino wakes as she leaves and
pursues her, apprehending her just as she is poised to throw the pearl into the sea. He tackles
her, takes the pearl back, and beats her violently, leaving her in a crumpled heap on the beach.
As he returns to the brush house, a group of hostile men confronts him and tries to take the
pearl from him. He fights the men off, killing one and causing the rest to flee, but drops the
pearl in the process.

As Juana ascends from the shore to the brush house, she finds the pearl lying in the path. Just
beyond, she sees Kino on the ground, next to the dead man. He bemoans the loss of the pearl,
which she presents to him. Though Kino explains that he had no intention to kill, Juana insists
that he will be labeled a murderer. They resolve to flee at once. Kino rushes back to the shore
to prepare the canoe, while Juana returns home to gather Coyotito and their belongings.

Kino arrives at the shore and finds his canoe destroyed by vandals. When he climbs the hill, he
sees a fire blazing, and realizes that his house has burned down. Desperate to find refuge, Kino,
Juana and Coyotito duck into Juan Tomás’s house, where they hide out for the day. Relieved
that the three did not perish in the blaze, as the rest of the neighborhood believes, Juan Tomás
and his wife, Apolonia, reluctantly agree to keep Kino and Juana’s secret and provide shelter
for them while pretending to be ignorant of their whereabouts.

At nightfall, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito set out for the capital. Skirting the town, they travel north
until sunrise and then take covert shelter by the roadside. They sleep for most of the day and
are preparing to set out again when Kino discovers that three trackers are following them. After
hesitating briefly, Kino decides that they must hurry up the mountain, in hopes of eluding the
trackers. A breathless ascent brings them to a water source, where they rest and take shelter
in a nearby cave. Kino attempts to mislead the trackers by creating a false trail up the mountain.
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito then hide in the cave and wait for an opportunity to escape back
down the mountain.

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The trackers are slow in their pursuit and finally arrive at the watering hole at dusk. They make
camp nearby, and two of the trackers sleep while the third stands watch. Kino decides that he
must attempt to attack them before the late moon rises. He strips naked to avoid being seen
and sneaks up to striking distance. Just as Kino prepares to attack, Coyotito lets out a cry,
waking the sleepers. When one of them fires his rifle in the direction of the cry, Kino makes his
move, killing the trackers in a violent fury. In the aftermath, Kino slowly realizes that the rifle
shot struck and killed his son in the cave.

The next day, Kino and Juana make their way back through town and the outlying brush houses.
Juana carries her dead son slung over her shoulder. They walk all the way to the sea, as
onlookers watch in silent fascination. At the shore, Kino pulls the pearl out of his clothing and
takes one last, hard look at it. Then, with all his might, under a setting sun, he flings the pearl
back into the sea.

Character List

Kino

Kino, The Pearl’s protagonist, is an extremely simple character, motivated by basic drives: his
love for his family, loyalty to the traditions of his village and his people, and frustration at his
people’s oppression at the hands of their European colonizers. Kino also possesses a quick
mind and a strong work ethic, and he feels a close, pure kinship with the natural world, the
source of his livelihood.
At the beginning of the novella, Kino is essentially content with his life. However, two seemingly
chance occurrences—Coyotito’s scorpion sting and Kino’s discovery of the pearl—open Kino’s
eyes to a larger world. As Kino begins to covet material wealth and education for his son, his
simple existence becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence. The basic
trajectory of Kino’s character is a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of
corruption and disillusionment. The forces propelling this decline are ambition and greed. At
the end of the novella, Kino’s tranquil relationship with nature has been perverted and
reversed, a change signified by the fact that Kino finds the sounds of the animals at night
threatening rather than reassuring.

Because The Pearl is a parable, Kino’s character can be interpreted in many ways. It can be
seen as a critique of colonial politics, an exploration of how good motives can bring a person

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to a bad end, or even an attack on the idea of the American dream. But on the most basic level,
Kino represents the dangers of ambition and greed. Kino’s ruin, caused by his lust for the pearl,
illustrates the extent to which ambition and greed poison and jeopardize every aspect of a
human’s familial, cultural, and personal well-being.

uana

Kino’s wife, Juana, is more reflective and more practical than Kino. She prays for divine aid
when Coyotito’s wound leaves Kino impotent with rage, and she also has the presence of mind
to salve the wound with a seaweed poultice. Juana is loyal and submissive, obeying her
husband as her culture dictates, but she does not always agree with his actions. Like Kino, Juana
is at first seduced by the greed the pearl awakens, but she is much quicker than Kino to
recognize the pearl as a potential threat. In fact, Juana comes to view the pearl as a symbol of
evil.
As the novella progresses, Juana becomes certain that the limitations, rules, and customs of
her society must be upheld. Whereas Kino seeks to transform his existence, Juana believes that
their lives will be better if they keep things as they are. Kino can see only what they have to
gain from the pearl, but Juana can see also what they stand to lose, and she wisely prefers to
protect what she has rather than sacrifice it all for a dream. Juana thus serves an important
function in the novella—she counterbalances Kino’s enthusiasm and reminds the reader that
Kino’s desire to make money is dangerous. Juana also symbolizes the family’s domestic
happiness; the scene in which Kino beats her for trying to cast off the pearl thus represents
Kino’s tragic break from the family he longs to support.

Coyotito - Kino and Juana’s only son, who is stung by a scorpion while resting in a hammock
one morning. Because Coyotito is an infant, he is helpless to improve his situation and thus at
the mercy of those who provide for him. Kino and Juana’s efforts to save him by finding a big
pearl with which they can pay a doctor prove to do more harm than good.

Juan Tomás - Kino’s older brother. Deeply loyal to his family, Juan Tomás supports Kino in all
of his endeavors but warns him of the dangers involved in possessing such a valuable pearl. He
is sympathetic to Kino and Juana, however, putting them up when they need to hide and telling
no one of their whereabouts.

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Apolonia - Juan Tomás’s wife and the mother of four children. Like her husband, Apolonia is
sympathetic to Kino and Juana’s plight, and she agrees to give them shelter in their time of
need.

The doctor - A small-time colonial who dreams of returning to a bourgeois European lifestyle.
The doctor initially refuses to treat Coyotito but changes his mind after learning that Kino has
found a great pearl. He represents the arrogance, condescension, and greed at the heart of
colonial society.

The priest - The local village priest ostensibly represents moral virtue and goodness, but he is
just as interested in exploiting Kino’s wealth as everyone else, hoping that he can find a way to
persuade Kino to give him some of the money he will make from the pearl.

The dealers - The extremely well-organized and corrupt pearl dealers in La Paz systematically
cheat and exploit the Indian pearl divers who sell them their goods. They desperately long to
cheat Kino out of his pearl.

The trackers - The group of violent and corrupt men that follows Kino and Juana when they
leave the village, hoping to waylay Kino and steal his pearl.