The Pearl

1. The Pearl Chapter 6

2. Chapter 6 - Vocabulary • Pivoting – turning • Irresolution – indecision or hesitation • Escarpment – steep cliff (created by erosion) • Petulant – irritable; peevish • Intercession – the making of prayers or pleas in behalf of someone else; intervention

3. Vocabulary continued • Germane – similar or relevant to • Ulcerous – corrupt and rotting • Malignant – dangerous and deadly; evil

4. Study Questions:

5. Why is Kino more convinced than ever that the pearl is of great value? He concludes that it must be worth a great deal because hunters are following the family which would not happen if the pearl were valueless.

6. Steinbeck says Kino is being moved by “some animal thing.” (pg. 69) What does the author mean? Kino is pursued and is reacting instinctively: “He was cautious and wary and dangerous.” (pg. 69) Age-old instincts revive in him; Kino’s family’s survival depends on stealth and cunning, not human knowledge.

7. What awakens Kino from his sleep? In some fashion, he senses danger.

8. Who is in the road? Why does he say they will be back? There are two Indian trackers and a man on horseback. He knows they will be back because they are good at what they do, and it is only a question of time before they pick up the trail.

9. Why does Kino consider letting the trackers take him? What does Juana say that convinces him not to do this? He feels that if the trackers take him an the pearl, they will leave Juana and the baby alone. She says that they will kill everyone, because Juana and Coyotito are witnesses.

10. Why does Juana reject Kino’s plan to separate? What does her resolve show about the changing dynamics of Kino’s family? She will not split up the family. Juana will not blindly submit to whatever Kino says, but her defiance gives Kino strength. They have become equals.

11. What plan does Kino make to get rid of the trackers? He plans to sneak down in the dark and kill the man with the rifle; he will then shoot the other two before they can get him.

12. What happens to disrupt his plan? The moon comes out and lights up the area, and Coyotito cries.

13. How is Kino described during the slaughter? Kino, instead of an animal, becomes a “terrible machine.” (page 86)

14. In their return to the village, what is unusual about the way that Kino and Juana walk? What might this signify? Juana, as Kino’s inferior, has always walked behind him. Now, they are walking side by side. In addition the showing that they are equals, this may signify that they have put the old and traditional ways behind them.

15. In Chapter 1, when Kino first looks at the pearl, he sees a church wedding for Juana and himself. On page 89, what does he see in the pearl? He sees “the frantic eyes of the man in the pool…and Coyotito lying in the cave with the top pf his head shot away.” The pearl is no longer beautiful; it has become “ugly,” “malignant,” “gray,” and “ulcerous.”

16. What action do Juana and Kino take at the end of this story? Why? Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. It could be that Kino feels disgust with the pearl and all that it represents. The pearl has brought many changes to Kino: ambition, dreams, greed, unhappiness, death, etc. By ridding himself of the pearl, Kino may have symbolically unburdened himself and now may be able to return to the simple life he knew before.