Essay Database

On the shores of the estuary, a set of blue and white canoes sits in the sand. Crabs and lobsters poke out from their holes, and algae and sea horses drift aimlessly in the nearby currents. Dogs and pigs scavenge the shoreline for sea drift in the hazy morning. Amid this scene, Kino and Juana walk down the beach to Kino's canoe. They are going to search for pearls, desperately hoping to find a pearl …

…the shortsightedness of all people. The "ghostly gleam" of the oyster that bears the unusually large pearl suggests the pearl's extraordinary significance and supernatural quality. Clearly, this pearl is unlike any other; it seems as though fate (and, of course, Steinbeck himself) has placed it in Kino's hands in his most desperate hour. Steinbeck thus positions the pearl to be the focal point for the development of Kino's character over the course of the novella.