January 4, 2010

"The Pearl" Synopsis

Kino, is a young Mexican-Indian pearl diver married to Juana; they have a baby named Coyotito. Their lives seem rather peaceful, but their tranquility is threatened when a scorpion bites Coyotito. Juana tells Kino to go to town and get the doctor, but Kino and their neighbors tell Juana that the doctor will never come to where they live, so Juana decides to take matters into her own hands and sets off with Coyotito to the doctor. Kino accompanies Juana, and many members of the village follow them to see what will happen. At the doctor’s house, the doctor’s servant tells Kino and Juana that the doctor is not at home—in truth, the doctor is home but will not help Coyotito because Kino cannot pay the doctor as much as the doctor wants, but also because the doctor is prejudiced against Kino’s race.

Kino goes to work diving in the Gulf for oysters from his canoe; Juana tends to Coyotito in the canoe by applying brown seaweed to his shoulder, which is swollen from the scorpion’s bite. As Kino is collecting oysters on the ocean bottom, he spots a larger-than-usual oyster, collects it, and returns to the canoe. Kino does not want to open the oyster immediately, but Juana prompts him to open the oyster; when he does, he finds a pearl the size of a sea gull’s egg. Juana gazes at the immense pearl; she then goes to check on Coyotito and discovers that Coyotito’s shoulder is no longer swollen. Kino is immensely happy about both the pearl and Coyotito and yells loudly enough that he attracts the attention of the other oyster divers, who race toward his canoe.

Before Kino reaches home with his great pearl, the news of his discovery has already reached his village and the town. Everyone fantasizes what he or she would do with the wealth that the pearl represents, including the doctor, who previously refused to help Coyotito but now says that the baby is a patient of his. The priest arrives at Kino and Juana’s hut and tells Kino that he needs to give thanks for finding the pearl. The doctor visits Kino and Juana and tricks them into allowing him to treat Coyotito even though Kino knows that Coyotito is already cured; in fact what the doctor has done is to make Coyotito sick so that the doctor can then cure the baby and get paid more. Coyotito indeed does get sick, and the doctor returns and gives the baby a different medicine that “cures” the baby. When the doctor asks Kino for payment, Kino says that his plan is to sell the pearl the next day. The doctor offers to keep the pearl for Kino, and Kino refuses the request, but the doctor tricks Kino into revealing where Kino has hidden the pearl. That night, Kino hears someone in the hut, draws his knife and strikes out at the figure and draws blood, but is hit over the head with a heavy object. Juana senses that the pearl is evil and begs Kino to throw the pearl back into the sea, but Kino refuses, believing still that the pearl will give them better lives than they have.

On the day that Kino is to sell the pearl, the other divers do not go diving. Kino and Juana begin the trip to the pearl buyers, followed by the entire village. The first pearl buyer to whom Kino offers to sell the pearl offers Kino a small amount of money for the pearl, saying that the pearl is too big and no one else will buy it. He sends word to the other pearl buyers in town to come to his office and appraise the pearl. When the three new pearl buyers arrive at the first’s office, the three of them have already planned together what each will offer Kino. Kino, realizing that the pearl buyers are working together to get the pearl for the least amount of money, says that he will go to the capital to sell his pearl. The first pearl buyer raises his offer to buy the pearl, but it is too late; Kino leaves. Back in the village, Kino’s neighbors discuss whether or not Kino should have accepted the main buyer’s last offer.

That night, Kino hears noises outside the hut and goes outside to check on what is making the noise. Juana listens inside the hut to Kino’s being attacked and rushes out with a brick to help him, but it is too late; Kino is bloodied and beaten, and the attackers have escaped without Kino being able to identify them. Again, like the previous night, Juana begs Kino to throw the pearl back into the sea, but Kino again refuses to because he envisions the pearl being sold and the money being used to fund Coyotito’s education. He resolves to sell the pearl in the capital.

Later, Juana rises in the dark, takes the pearl from the hut, and goes to the beach. Kino follows her and catches up with her at the beach just as she is ready to throw the pearl into the water. He hits her and saves the pearl from going into the water, but he is then attacked by some figures he cannot identify. The pearl is knocked from his hands, but he is able to stab one of his assailants before he is knocked unconscious. Juana regains consciousness and finds Kino lying unconscious, a dead stranger next to him. When Kino regain consciousness, Juana returns the pearl to him from where she found it lying behind a rock and tells him that they must flee the village because he has killed a man. Juana leaves to gather their belongings; Kino goes to check on their canoe and finds that a large hole has been smashed into its bottom. As they approach their hut, they see it burning in flames. Taking Coyotito, they go to Kino’s brother’s hut and spend the day hiding there. Kino’s brother, Juan Tomás, lets the other villagers think that Kino and his family have run away, all the while gathering provisions for when Kino and Juana will flee. Kino continues to believe that the pearl is not something evil but instead offers a more promising future for him and his family.

Kino, Juana, and Coyotito leave their village and head toward Loreto. Kino is careful to make sure that they leave no tracks but knows that they will be followed because of the pearl’s great value. Because they are traveling at night, the next dawn they conceal themselves and settle down for the day. Juana and Coyotito fall asleep, and soon Kino does too. He is suddenly awakened by noises, creeps out from where they are hiding, and sees trackers who are following them. Once the trackers pass by the hiding place, Kino and his family head toward high mountains. When they reach the first rise of the mountains, Kino tries to convince Juana to hide with Coyotito while he leads the trackers away, but she refuses so they head higher up the mountains to where Kino finds a stream. There, Kino hides Juana and Coyotito in a small cave and makes false tracks up the side of the mountain, hoping to mislead the trackers; he then hides in the cave with his family.

The trackers arrive at the spring and make camp for the night. Kino, realizing that the trackers will discover them in the morning, vows to attack the trackers before the trackers attack he and his family. As he moves more closely to the trackers’ campfire, one of the trackers who is keeping watch aims his gun toward where he has heard a cry in the night and fires his gun; Kino jumps on the tracker and kills him with his knife. Kino grabs the dead tracker’s gun and shoots a second tracker. The third tracker scrambles away from Kino, but Kino shoots and kills this tracker as well. He then notices how quiet the night is. This quiet is punctured by the sounds of Juana’s crying; Coyotito has been killed by the watcher’s gunfire.

Later that day late in the afternoon, Kino and Juana walk side by side into town, with Juana carrying a bundle that contains the dead Coyotito. People watch in silence as the two walk silently, as in a trance. Kino and Juana reach the beach, where Kino offers the pearl to Juana to throw it in the sea. She refuses, telling Kino that he should be the one. He cocks his arm and throws the pearl as far out into the sea as he can; it sinks to the sandy bottom among the water plants.

Plot Summary
Kino, a young pearl diver in La Paz, enjoys his simple life until the day his son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion. The wealthy town doctor will not treat the baby because Kino cannot pay the doctor's fee, so Kino and his wife, Juana, are left only to hope their child is saved. That day Kino goes diving, and finds a great pearl, the Pearl of the World, and knows he is suddenly a wealthy man. The word travels quickly about the pearl and many in the town begin to plot ways to steal it.

While the townspeople plot against Kino, he dreams of marrying Juana in a church, buying a rifle, and sending Coyotito to school so that he can learn to read. Kino believes that an education will free his son from the poverty and ignorance that have oppressed their people for more than four hundred years.

The doctor comes to treat Coyotito once he learns of Kino's pearl, and although the baby is healed by Juana's remedy, the doctor takes advantage of Kino's ignorance. He convinces Kino that the child is still ill and will die without the care of a doctor. The doctor then manipulates Kino into unwittingly revealing where he has hidden the great pearl. Kino moves the pearl when the doctor leaves. That night, an intruder comes into Kino's hut and roots around near the spot where Kino had first buried the pearl.

The next day, Kino tries to sell the pearl in town. The pearl buyers have already planned to convince Kino that the great pearl he has found is worth very little because it is too large. This way they can purchase the pearl for a low price. But when the buyers try to cheat Kino, he refuses to sell the pearl and plans to travel to another city to sell at a fair price. His brother, Tom Juan, feels Kino's plan is foolish because it defies his entire way of life and puts his family in danger. Kino is now on his own, although he doesn't know it yet.

Juana warns Kino that the pearl is evil and will destroy his family, but he refuses to throw it away because it is his one chance to provide a different life for his family. That night, Juana takes the pearl and tries to throw it into the sea, but Kino stops her and beats her. On his way back to their hut, Kino is attacked and he kills the man in self-defense. Juana goes to gather their things and escape and finds the floor of their hut completely dug up. While she's inside the hut getting the baby, someone lights it on fire.

Kino, Juana, and Coyotito hide with Kino's brother for a day before embarking on their journey to a new city under the cover of darkness. While they are resting during the day, Kino discovers that there are trackers following them. He knows that they will steal the pearl and kill his family if they catch them. To escape, Kino and Juana take the baby and run to the mountains where they hide in a cave at nightfall. The trackers camp just below the ridge where they are hiding. Kino sneaks down in the night to kill the trackers, but before he can attack them, Coyotito cries out. The trackers, thinking it's a coyote, shoot at the dark cave where Juana and Coyotito are hiding. As the shot is fired, Kino springs on the trackers and kills them all. Unfortunately, Coyotito was killed by the first gunshot, and Kino's journey with the pearl ends in tragedy.

Realizing that the pearl is cursed and has destroyed his family (as Juana forewarned), Kino and Juana return to La Paz and throw the cursed pearl into the sea.

Major Characters
Kino:
Kino is a young pearl diver who feels his obligation to his family very strongly. He knows his place as the provider and works hard to supply for his family's needs. He finds The Pearl of the World and expects to use it to pay for his son, Coyotito's, education. He also dreams that with the pearl he can buy his family new clothes and a rifle for himself, but the pearl only brings him trouble. His neighbors turn on him and try to steal the pearl from him and he has to leave his home after killing an attacker. Although it was self-defense, he knows that his family is in danger. He and Juana run away with Coyotito, but trackers follow them. He knows that they are after the pearl and that they will catch his family, so he sneaks into their camp and kills them all. In the shooting that goes on in the camp, a stray bullet kills his son. He and Juana return to La Paz with their dead child and they throw the pearl into the sea.

Juana: Juana is Kino's strong, quiet wife who takes care of her family. The rhythm of her motions is the Song of Family for Kino. She obeys her husband in most instances, but when she realizes that the pearl is only bringing trouble to her family, she urges him to throw it away. He refuses, and while he sleeps, she takes the pearl to the beach and is about to throw it in, when Kino catches her and beats her for taking the pearl. She accompanies her husband out of La Paz and urges him again to get rid of the cursed pearl, but he won't until their son, Coyotito, is accidentally shot by a tracker's rifle. After the tragedy, Kino and Juana walk side by side back to La Paz and throw the pearl into the sea together.

Coyotito: Coyotito is Kino and Juana's first-born child who is stung by a scorpion and needs medical treatment. Unfortunately, the local doctor will not treat the baby because Kino has no money. When the doctor hears about Kino's pearl, he comes to treat Coyotito. Kino expects that the pearl will purchase great things for his family, the greatest being an education for his son so that they cannot be cheated by the merchants and the other upper class citizens of La Paz who have taken advantage of Kino's people for four hundred years. But that great dream is destroyed when Coyotito is killed by a gunshot while Kino is killing the trackers who are following them. Kino killed them to protect his family and the pearl and the dream of the future that the pearl provided, but his dream and his family are destroyed when Coyotito dies. Kino and Juana return to La Paz with Coyotito's small body and throw the pearl into the sea.

Minor Characters
Juan Tomas:
Juan Tomas is Kino's older brother. Juan gives Kino advice about selling the pearl. He walks beside Kino when they travel to the pearl buyers. Later, he warns his brother that by refusing to sell his pearl to the buyers, Kino is defying their way of life and putting his family in danger. When Kino seeks refuge with Juan Tomas, he is granted it. Juan gathers supplies that Kino and Juana will need on their journey and protects his brother's family until they depart.

Apolonia: Apolonia is Juan Tomas' wife. She follows her husband as he escorts Kino into town to sell the pearl, and she raises a formal mourning when Kino's hut burns and no sign of them is found.

Doctor: The doctor is wealthier than the peasants of La Paz, and he scoffs at natives, like Kino and Juana, who seek his treatment without money. When Kino and Juana brought Coyotito to the doctor to heal the scorpion sting, he refused them. Later, when he heard that Kino had found the Pearl of the World, he came to their hut to treat the baby. He pretended not to know that Kino had found a great pearl, so that when Kino talked about it, he could watch to see if his eyes went to the spot where it was buried in the hut. Sure enough, Kino gave its location away and that night someone came to his hut to dig out the pearl, but Kino had since moved it. Kino stabbed at the intruder, but did not make a fatal swing and the intruder (possibly the doctor) hit him in the head and then escaped.

Trackers: Two trackers and a man with a rifle followed Kino and Juana out of La Paz. Kino saw them coming while Juana hid in the woods. When Kino realized that they were tracking him, he and Juana hurried up to the smooth rocks of the mountains so that they would be harder to follow. When night fell, the trackers were just below the cave in which Kino, Juana, and Coyotito were hiding. Kino sneaked down the sheer face of the mountain and into their camp and killed them all. In the chaos, Coyotito was shot and killed.

The Priest: The priest was the local religious authority, and when he learned of Kino's pearl, he hoped that he could convince Kino to use his wealth for the good of the church. He made a visit to Kino's hut that night to talk to Kino about his duty to give part of his wealth to God, who had ultimately created the pearl.

The Buyers: The pearl buyers of the town acted as if they worked for themselves, but they were actually all controlled by one man. The pretense of competition among the pearl buyers made it easier to cheat the Indians out of their pearls. By putting on a show of competing over the best price, the man in charge and the buyers were adept at ripping off the natives. When they told Kino that his great pearl was worth only a thousand pesos, he got angry and left to take the pearl to the capital. That night, Kino's family was attacked in their home, and he believed that the buyers were responsible for it.

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