Kino insists that they sell the pearl the next day, reluctantly she agrees. His wife, Juana, is terribly distressed by this turn of events, and she suggests that they get rid of the pearl right away. That night an intruder comes to the brush house, Kino attempts to fight him off, and succeeds, but is also left bloodied and injured.

But Kino tells him that he will pay him once he sells the pearl. The doctor will be able to miraculously ‘cure’ the baby and asks for payment.

The doctor administers a white powder to the baby as a ‘cure’, but Coyotito soon begins to go downhill. Not knowing any better, Kino allows the doctor to ‘treat’ his child. When Kino tells him that his son is nearly back to normal, the doctor lies to them and says that the baby could still be deathly ill. He does not mention that he has heard anything about the pearl, he says only that he heard that they have a baby who was stung by a scorpion. The doctor who refused to treat Coyotito only the day before arrives. Others in La Paz have more sinister ideas. His desires are quite modest, given his gains. He would also like to officially marry his wife in a church. Kino has his own plans for the money though, specifically he hopes to give his son, Coyotito a good education. Before long the town Priest visits the little village, something he never does, specifically to subtly pressure Kino to donate heavily to the church. Word about Kino’s pearl spreads very quickly. It is a pearl bigger than anything ever found in the area. What he and Juana find are outside of their wildest expectations. Eventually, he finds one that is set apart from the rest, it is larger, and cleaner than the other oysters, and for some reason Kino has a good feeling about what might be inside. While Juana prays in the canoe, Kino dives for oysters. In hopes that they might find a pearl worthy of the doctor’s attention, Kino and Juana immediately begin searching for a better pearl. Juana and Kino, accompanied by their neighbours, go to see the local doctor, who refuses to treat Coyotito because Kino cannot pay. However, things change when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion in an accident. Their lives are simple, and poor, but in the opening of the pages the family seems extremely content with their lives. Kino, his wife Juana, and their baby son Coyotito live in a poor village on the edge of a prosperous town called La Paz. Steinbeck introduces us to a young family of indigenous Mexicans who make a living pearling. John Steinbeck’s novella “ The Pearl” is a kind of parable about how the things we think we want desperately can sometimes destroy our lives.

The black pearl steinbeck