Night Kino Beats Juana example essay topic

660 words
Because Kino finds the pearl in the aptly titled book The Pearl by John Steinbeck, three major occurrences result. Kino's entire life, which has been affected by the hardships of poverty, is suddenly, seemingly transformed when he discovers a monstrous pearl within the folds of a clam at the bottom of the ocean. Kino's finding leaves the townspeople deeply desiring his new treasure, leaves the doctor of the city wishing he had agreed to help Coyotito and his scorpion bite, and leaves Kino himself imagining the vast possibilities of a brand new life sprung from the pearl itself. Firstly, Kino himself dreams of a new life. He wants to give proper schooling to Coyotito, wear fine clothing, properly marry the mother of his child, and live a rich and prosperous life. Kino also dreams of owning a rifle, a definite luxury in his small town.

Kino seems to become a bit obsessed over the pearl, as described in paragraph three. These dreams lead Kino to become extremely determined to sell the pearl, which is the main reason Kino decides to go to town to the pearl buyers to become rich off the pearl. Secondly, the doctor of La Paz, the city where Kino and his family reside, wants to help Kino's baby, Coyotito, after previously denying him help. When Kino finds the pearl and the doctor gains knowledge of this the doctor rushes as fast as he can to Kino's residence. Because of Kino's discovery, the doctor decides to 'help' the baby, and then demands payment. The doctor demanding payment is what furthers Kino's wish to sell the pearl.

Kino then goes to the town pearl buyers, expecting to get a huge amount of money from them for his treasure. Kino is severely angered when he is cheated and the pearl buyers offer him hardly any money at all. Because of this deviation, Kino, much to Juana's dismay, then decides to sell his pearl at the capital, which is fairly far away. The night that Kino gets cheated by the pearl buyers and decides to journey to sell the pearl, Juana attempts to throw the pearl into the sea to rid the family of what she calls the pearl's 'evilness'.

However, Kino catches Juana and beats her for trying to toss away his beloved pearl. This leads directly into the events described in paragraph three. Thirdly, the townspeople desire Kino's newly discovered treasure. They have never seen a pearl so large and spellbinding. Kino knows that the townspeople want his pearl, and this knowledge leads him to become almost paranoid and obsessed over the pearl. No one does steal the pearl, but some townspeople do try.

The night Kino beats Juana he hears noises and, upon an investigation, he ends up killing a man outside his home and finding his precious boat destroyed. Someone then sets flame to his house. Having killed a person and having his house burned to the ground, Kino, along with Juana and Coyotito, flee the next day. They are tracked by people from the village and one night, as Juana and Coyotito hide, Kino attacks the three trackers. Unfortunately, one of the tracker's guns is shot in the direction of Juana and Coyotito, and Coyotito is killed. Despaired, Kino and Juana return home, only to throw the pearl back into the sea, ridding themselves of any further evils.

All in all, this book is a fine example of cause and effect. Virtually every event in the story leads to another event, and then another, and so on. The townspeople desiring the pearl, the doctor slyly giving aid to Coyotito, and Kino being strongly influenced by the power of the pearl are all major events that, in the end, lead to the death of Kino's son.