THE PEARL AND ITS EVIL POWER: FROM A FATHER FIGURE TO BEING LOST INTO THE "INNOCENCE AND DESTROYER " OF GREED
(Steinbeck 0) The Pearl, by John Steinbeck “In the town they tell the story of the great pearl, how it was found and how it was lost again. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man’s mind. And, as with all retold tales that are in people’s hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between anywhere. They say in the town that. . . .” I will be using Pearson's Heroic Archetypes to help me understand Kino, the main character. The book starts of by using Jung Archetypes to describe the main three characters, we can see how each of them represent certain characteristic in the book Kino as the father figure which brings authority, stern, love and power also as the hero: Champion; defender; rescuer. The mother (Juana): Nurturing; comforting and the child (Coyotito): Longing for innocence; rebirth; salvation. I will also be using Freud to describe some of the symbolizing used in the book and Kino's Monomyth on his quest to a perfect life and to find himself again after being lost in the world of lust, danger and on the way of finding riches. I am thinking that Kinos goes thru a few archetypes as the book continues, he goes from a humble hard working loving father and husband (JUNG ARCHETYPES, THE FATHER FIGURE) to a selfish man full of greed, conflict, and violence, who puts his family in situations to satisfy his own ego, he becomes a (Ego Maniac, Collective Unconscious) (Innocent and destroyer) and finds himself lost in the world not knowing who he really is. He tries to find his way back to become who he was before but fails to accomplish this due to his quest of finding the perfect life and to his inner ego.
The author of this book is John Steinbeck, he was born in Salinas, California in 1902 and came from a family of moderate means. Steinbeck's novels can all be classified as social novels dealing with the economic problems but behind his books are great stories full of meanings. His first novel was called Cup of Gold and was writing in 1929. John Steinbeck wrote a total of 27 novels and received a total of 17 awards and honors. John Steinbeck became one of America's most beloved and honored writers. In 1963 he becomes an honorary consultant in American Literature to the Library of Congress and is presented the United States Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In December of 1968, John Dies of arteriosclerosis in New York City. His soul still lives behind all his wonderful work and written pages of literature.
(Steinbeck back of the book hard cover) "One day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull's egg, as perfect as the moon with the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security......"
Kinos character goes thru many stages of denial and of Archetypes. The book starts off by using Jung Archetypes of Kino being the father figure but then changes to a Pearson's Innocent Archetype and Destroyer by finding an empty happiness where there is evil. Carol S. Pearson's Archetypes, which is the (Innocent and Destroyer) describes Kino characteristics. When i took the Heroic Myth Test as if i was Kino to understand his and other characters better, i got exactly what i concluded. There is a big difference between Juana and Kino, both of these characters symbolize a different state of mind when it comes to there "dream". Kino's ambition drives himself into a selfish world full of violence and greed where he faces two personalities (TWO FACE), even at a point on the book we see how he starts to change (Steinbeck 56) "has Kino gone mad?? He is talking to the pearl!! His obsession becomes greater as the days go by; he stares at the pearl to look for answer and to see his future. He is left with clearly nothing but a dream full of emptiness and regret, for he is not who he was before. In (Steinbeck 71) we see how the Archetype of Destroyer starts to overtake him as Kino lies to Juana about what he sees in their future "We will be married in a great church and find a greater education for Coyotito. The truth is that Kino really sees a body bleeding on the ground, Juana making her way home through the night after being beaten, and Coyotito’s face swollen as though he were sick. Juana (Kino's wife) is one of the characters that see the truth behind the "pearl", (REALISTIC) she realizes and tries to make Kino understand that the pearl is just an illusion and if they continue they will be rob or even die.
In the book The Pearl we see a lot of symbolizing that is being used where the narrator tells Kino’s story to teach a moral lesson. Freud's symbolizing is used to create a certain theme for the book representing each character. The first symbol we see is in the tragic accident of Coyotito’s "scorpion sting", because of this the search for a pearl began, a pearl that was just big enough to cover Coyotito's treatment/sickness. The Pearl is the biggest symbol because that is what the books focuses on and if it wasn't for the pearl anything would happen to Kino and his humble family. This "Wonderful Pearl" is what awakens greed into the life of a humble hard working couple (Kino, Juana) the pearl can be seen as a symbol of greed, richness, change, evil, a "dream". You can see how a "natural object" can destroy the life of a family. The songs that Kino hears are also great symbolizing because we can tell in what type of situation he is in depending on the mood or songs that are played in his head. He hears a particular song always that corresponds to the feeling he is in. When he is happy with his family in he hears the (Steinbeck 2) "in Kino's head there was a song now, clear and soft, he called it Song of the Family. When he senses danger, dishonesty, greed by others or violence he hears the Song of Evil. These songs point to the oral nature of Kino’s cultural tradition that was passed on from generation to generation. We can see how the songs compare from the begging of the book to the end where in (Steinbeck 73) the songs changes "the music of the pearl had become sinister in his ears, and it was interwoven with the music of Evil". The Sea is also one of the main symbols used in the book; it gives life to the "Pearl", water, movement, new beginning, and the end. It shows how it all starts at the ocean where Kino and his ancestor have been for years and it all ends there (Steinbeck 88) where they put Coyotito’s corpse after being shot by the trackers.
The call for adventure all starts once the pearl is found. “The doctor" also has a lot to do with Kino's Archetype as a Destroyer, after he refuses to help Kino's family due his stereotypes toward the native people. (Steinbeck 18) He states that he is not a veterinarian, thus, referring to Kino's family as animals. His interest in the family only occurs after he hears of Kino's find of "The Pearl of the World", Kino hates this and due to this comment he feels a certain type of way, where he must give his family a better life and his son a better education. His greed then begins.
Using Campbell's Quest to describe the family's journey and survival we can organize all details and why things occurred in that order. We can see how the whole book is based on a rush of Monomyths and all the dangers he and his family must faces every day to sell the pearl and find the perfect home for his family. His call for adventure starts as soon as that pearl is in his hand. There Threshold occurs once they leave their town (comfort zone) in the hunt for the perfect "buyer" of the pearl (who will offer more money), as people make offers we see Kino's greed starting to kick in, when he doesn't find a good enough offer for his "Pearl Of The World". Passed the threshold everything is full of problems, violence, death, neglect and greed. The belly of the whale (revelation) is seen in the book once the family find themselves stuck into a unknown world full of people who just want to hurt them. Kino’s Transformation goes from a loving "father" to a savage criminal, demonstrating the how ambition and greed destroys innocence. At last there Return home is very interesting because it had a very twisted end where Kino's quest was not completed. Kino's physical and emotional life was changed forever because of a material object such as a "pearl". His quest to find who he was, was left in the limbo. Everything that he once loved and was not afraid of became his biggest fear.
There are three main characters that show three different Jung Archetypes. In Kino we see the father figure which brings authority, stern, love and power to this book. We see how his character shows and brings out more than one of the archetypes and are describe as the book flows. They start to change as the Mono-myth of the book progresses in details, actions and change.
These are the shadow sides of the archetypes in which the character of Kino changes to, (Pearson, Carol. Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to help us Find Ourselves and Transform the World) Innocent: Evidenced in a capacity for denial so that you do not let yourself know what is really going on. You may be hurting yourself and others, but you will not acknowledge it. You may also be hurt, but you will repress that knowledge as well. Or, you believe what other say even when their perspective is directly counter to your own inner knowing. He becomes UN-aware of the damage that he is doing to his family and everyone around him. He puts himself in a selfish situation where he plays the victim.(Pearson, Carol. Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to help us Find Ourselves and Transform the World) Destroyer: Includes all self-destructive behaviors, addictions, compulsions or activities that undermine intimacy, career, success or self-esteem and all behaviors such as emotional or physical abuse, murder, rape that have destructive effects on others. Kino finds himself doing harm to other in order to survive, he even kills a man (Steinbeck 85) "Kino moves quietly and then murders him execution-style". His simple existence becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence.
The family is
put by a dozen of quest that they must overcome. The Trackers are a group of
bounty hunters who track down Kino, Coyotito, and Juana in an attempt to steal
the pearl and are the ones responsible of the death of their son. They must
face the ignorance of others and jealousy of everyone in there town. Everyone
wants the "Pearl" and they will stop at nothing to get what they
want. Their quest is full worries, kills, escapes, discoveries and violence.
The family finds themselves running daily from everyone's jealousy to save their
life and not be killed. Their attempt to a better life became a failure as
there only son Coyotito is killed. Though there quest followed the regular
Monomyth, once they returned home nothing was the same. There
"Shallow" of regret and guilt stalks them as darkness lies ahead of their
lives. The question of whether Kino’s ultimate decision to rid himself of the
pearl by throwing it back into the ocean represents a victory or a defeat. I
believe that Kino’s final act of material renunciation empowered
him.
WORK CITED
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. New York. 1992
Pearson, Carol. Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to help us Find Ourselves and Transform the World. New York: Harper One. 1991.
Pearson, Carol. The Hero Within: Six Archetypes we Live By. 3rd Edition. New York: Harper One, 1986.
WEBSITES
http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/tp/archetypes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype
http://www.herowithin.com/innocent.html
