Post by fearlessdranzer on Oct 1, 2005 15:44:21 GMT -5
I don't know if this is accepted but to anyone who is having trouble with the book I did some important quote outlines! Tell me what you think of how they were written and if they were helpful! May contain spoilers!
1. Chapter I - “Have I nothing better to do than to cure insect bite for ‘little Indians’? I am a doctor not a veterinary.” The doctor is putting Kino and his family down because they didn’t have enough money to pay for the babies’ treatment. He refers to them as animals when he claims he’s not a ‘veterinary’. He acts like Kino and his race are below him, like animals. He also calls them ‘little’ as if to belittle them.
2. Chapter I - “For a long time Kino stood in front of the gate Juana beside him. Slowly he put his suppliant hat on his head. Then without warning, he struck the gate with a crushing blow with his fist.” I think this quote has importance because in almost every single chapter there is a similar pounding or ‘hitting’ motion. Striking the gate, pounding the scorpion and pounding the corncakes to just name a few. His hat also symbolizes that he is trying to act big, or strong. Like he could be an imposing figure. Later on in the book they mention his hat, it was about the way he wore it, which was in a way to impose others.
3. Chapter II - “But in the song there was a secret little inner song, hardly perceptible, but always there, sweet and secret and clinging, almost hiding in the counter-melody and this was the Song of the Pearl That Might Be.” Some where Kino always feels that something might be there that is not. It’s like a little nat constantly buzzing in his face. He doesn’t want to swat it away, because who doesn’t want there to be a ‘Pearl of the World’ and to be the one who finds it. I think this just proves to make the reader believe that Kino is a real person and that you’re not just reading a story from someone else’s point of view. It makes you want to jump in the story and tell Kino that there is hope. It makes you believe you’re inside Kino’s head, because just like a normal person, Kino dreams.
3. Chapter II - “And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloat and triumphant.” This sentence makes me believe that the pearl is truly a work of art. That it must be something special to be described in such an emotional way. The author talks about the pearl as if it was something truly incredible, and that makes the reader believe that the pearl is incredible. If Kino and the author have such a big reaction over the pearl, that obviously it means something. It makes you believe that Kino is going to find the maybe pearl. And you want him to find it, because who wouldn’t want someone like Kino to actually own something of value?
4. Chapter II - “His emotions broke over him. He put back his head and howled. His eyes rolled up and he screamed and his body went rigid.” If you ever read this sentence without know that Kino had found the pearl you might think that something terrible or great might have happened. Or maybe that he was in pain. The author wants Kino to have such a big reaction, that most people wouldn’t have, to show that the pearl is truly The Pearl of the World. He wants Kino’s reaction to be significant so that he can prove to the reader that when everyone is amazed over the pearl, that their amazement has a purpose. It also makes you’re heart clench up with excitement and anticipation. Anyone who reads a sentence like that wants to find out why the character is acting that way. Most people do not howl like animals and faint for no apparent reason.
5. Chapter III - “The news... came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church.” When I read this sentence, it help prove the fact that something of great value was here. The pearl was so great that it made a priest, who has no need for worldly possessions, to think of money. Even though he thinks of it in a good way you can still get the feeling that the pearl is changing people and making them act ways they shouldn’t. It kind of gives you a sense of foreboding that others too will be changed because of the pearl. It’s like the author is foreshadowing the rest of the story.
6. Chapter III - “The news came to the shopkeepers and they looked at the men’s clothes that had not sold well.” The shopkeepers looking at clothing that hadn’t sold well makes you feel like they are expecting something important to happen. They think a lot of money will be coming their way. The fact that they looked at clothing that hadn’t sold well makes you think that someone will be buying the clothes. And that the news is news that tells of money. The news gives the shopkeepers a reason to look at unsold clothing. The author is still trying to prove that the pearl is important and it will be changing a lot of people’s lives.
7. Chapter III - “The doctor looked past his aged patient and saw himself sitting in a restaurant in Paris and a waiter was just opening a bottle of wine.” Once again the author is putting dreams into people’s heads that make you think they are expecting something big to happen. And usually in the world when something big happens it involves money. It would take a lot of money for the doctor to think of going back to Paris. It also gives the doctor a motive for being evil later on in the story. It gives him a reason to go to Kino and charge him money. The doctor believes the rumors that are going around about the ‘Pearl of the World”. When I read it I thought it was opening up an opportunity for the doctor to do something that would be tilted in his favor.
8. Chapter III - “...Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino so that he became a curiously every man’s enemy.” When they mention the dreams and thoughts of everyone it makes you thing that the pearl will have an impact on everyone. With the mentioning of schemes it makes you think something bad will happen. It makes you c*ck in a eyebrow in confusion, you’ll think why would someone be scheming? Or what could they be scheming? This might be trouble for Kino in the future. So once again I think the author is foreshadowing an evil scheme in the near future for Kino. And when he said ‘Kino became every man’s enemy.’ It made you think that Kino was going to have trouble soon. It also is telling you that everyone has greedy needs, no matter how good of a person you try to be you’ll always have greedy thoughts. No one is perfect he is saying, and even though most people now think that the citizens that live near Kino are greedy nasty people they are wrong. It just proving that like everyone else in the world that they are human. I am sure every single person has had greedy or nasty thoughts no matter how hard they try to stop them.
9. Chapter IV - “Kino’s neighbors ‘had been afraid of something like this. The pearl was large, but it had a strange color. They had been suspicious of it from the first. And after all, a thousand pesos was not to be thrown away. It was comparative wealth to a man who was not wealthy. Only yesterday Kino had nothing.” Here they mention a thousand pesos to be something of importance to a poor man. To a poor person a thousand pesos was comparative to instant wealth. It really makes you wonder how truly poor Kino and his people were. It also makes you wonder why the Jewelers said Kino’s pearl was no good. It also makes you feel betrayed because the author took so much time trying to make you believe that the pearl was going to be the hope in Kino’s little Pandora’s box-like life. But some where you feel that deep down that they are lying, you believe so much that pearl is something important that you ignore what the jewelers said. That’s what the author wants, he wants you to feel like you’re Kino and that you feel cheated. He wants to set up the ending of the story where Kino realizes that pearl is indeed something big from the world of money. He knows deep down that the pearl is something that deserves more of than a thousand pesos. Unfortunately the neighbors are gullible and will believe anything out of the jewelers’ mouths. They switch there mind into believing that they were right all along when they though the pearl was a fake. Once again the author is poking fun at humans.
9. Chapter V - “Juana knew that the old life was gone forever. A dead man in the path, and Kino’s knife, dark bladed beside him, convinced her.” Here the author tells us that Juana had been right all along when she had feelings of suspicion. She thought the pearl would ruin and change their lives forever. Now she was correct because a man’s life had been taken over the pearl. She was truly convinced that the pearl was evil. Steinbeck proves that Juana is the voice of reason in this mixed up story. With all the deceit and violence going on, Juana is still level headed. You want to cheer for Juana because Kino has been mistreating her the whole story, although he didn’t lift a finger at her. He is taking her for granted and he doesn’t appreciate her enough. He needs to learn that Juan is just as strong as a man. She has a purpose and that is to change Kino’s life forever. She gives him reassurance, but you feel mad at Kino because he never listened to Juana in the first place. Juana feels that the pearl would bring them terrible luck, and it did. Now someone was dead and they could never go back the way they lived before. Steinbeck wants to prove that Kino is being greatly impacted by the pearl and everyone around him. He just needs to listen when people give him advice.
10. Chapter VI - “The sun was behind them and their long shadows stalked ahead and they seemed to carry two towers of darkness with them.” This quote gives you the feeling that this people very frightening and that luck was running in their favor. It makes you shake your head sadly and wonder what would happen to Kino and Juana next. Unfortunately Steinbeck’s point goes through clear as it does with all his sentences. Every little word has a purpose in creating the image of these ‘figures’. Not a single word in that sentence is without purpose. All of the words puts together a single scene in the story. Even though the story is short, this sentence like all others makes you feel like you’re truly seeing the figures. It also makes you feel like Steinbeck is also seeing these figures, and he is describing them to you in a way that fits in with the rest of the story. His whole aim is too make it seem like all the pearl is bringing Kino is sadness and pain.
The Pearl Quotes
1. Chapter I - “Have I nothing better to do than to cure insect bite for ‘little Indians’? I am a doctor not a veterinary.” The doctor is putting Kino and his family down because they didn’t have enough money to pay for the babies’ treatment. He refers to them as animals when he claims he’s not a ‘veterinary’. He acts like Kino and his race are below him, like animals. He also calls them ‘little’ as if to belittle them.
2. Chapter I - “For a long time Kino stood in front of the gate Juana beside him. Slowly he put his suppliant hat on his head. Then without warning, he struck the gate with a crushing blow with his fist.” I think this quote has importance because in almost every single chapter there is a similar pounding or ‘hitting’ motion. Striking the gate, pounding the scorpion and pounding the corncakes to just name a few. His hat also symbolizes that he is trying to act big, or strong. Like he could be an imposing figure. Later on in the book they mention his hat, it was about the way he wore it, which was in a way to impose others.
3. Chapter II - “But in the song there was a secret little inner song, hardly perceptible, but always there, sweet and secret and clinging, almost hiding in the counter-melody and this was the Song of the Pearl That Might Be.” Some where Kino always feels that something might be there that is not. It’s like a little nat constantly buzzing in his face. He doesn’t want to swat it away, because who doesn’t want there to be a ‘Pearl of the World’ and to be the one who finds it. I think this just proves to make the reader believe that Kino is a real person and that you’re not just reading a story from someone else’s point of view. It makes you want to jump in the story and tell Kino that there is hope. It makes you believe you’re inside Kino’s head, because just like a normal person, Kino dreams.
3. Chapter II - “And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloat and triumphant.” This sentence makes me believe that the pearl is truly a work of art. That it must be something special to be described in such an emotional way. The author talks about the pearl as if it was something truly incredible, and that makes the reader believe that the pearl is incredible. If Kino and the author have such a big reaction over the pearl, that obviously it means something. It makes you believe that Kino is going to find the maybe pearl. And you want him to find it, because who wouldn’t want someone like Kino to actually own something of value?
4. Chapter II - “His emotions broke over him. He put back his head and howled. His eyes rolled up and he screamed and his body went rigid.” If you ever read this sentence without know that Kino had found the pearl you might think that something terrible or great might have happened. Or maybe that he was in pain. The author wants Kino to have such a big reaction, that most people wouldn’t have, to show that the pearl is truly The Pearl of the World. He wants Kino’s reaction to be significant so that he can prove to the reader that when everyone is amazed over the pearl, that their amazement has a purpose. It also makes you’re heart clench up with excitement and anticipation. Anyone who reads a sentence like that wants to find out why the character is acting that way. Most people do not howl like animals and faint for no apparent reason.
5. Chapter III - “The news... came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church.” When I read this sentence, it help prove the fact that something of great value was here. The pearl was so great that it made a priest, who has no need for worldly possessions, to think of money. Even though he thinks of it in a good way you can still get the feeling that the pearl is changing people and making them act ways they shouldn’t. It kind of gives you a sense of foreboding that others too will be changed because of the pearl. It’s like the author is foreshadowing the rest of the story.
6. Chapter III - “The news came to the shopkeepers and they looked at the men’s clothes that had not sold well.” The shopkeepers looking at clothing that hadn’t sold well makes you feel like they are expecting something important to happen. They think a lot of money will be coming their way. The fact that they looked at clothing that hadn’t sold well makes you think that someone will be buying the clothes. And that the news is news that tells of money. The news gives the shopkeepers a reason to look at unsold clothing. The author is still trying to prove that the pearl is important and it will be changing a lot of people’s lives.
7. Chapter III - “The doctor looked past his aged patient and saw himself sitting in a restaurant in Paris and a waiter was just opening a bottle of wine.” Once again the author is putting dreams into people’s heads that make you think they are expecting something big to happen. And usually in the world when something big happens it involves money. It would take a lot of money for the doctor to think of going back to Paris. It also gives the doctor a motive for being evil later on in the story. It gives him a reason to go to Kino and charge him money. The doctor believes the rumors that are going around about the ‘Pearl of the World”. When I read it I thought it was opening up an opportunity for the doctor to do something that would be tilted in his favor.
8. Chapter III - “...Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino so that he became a curiously every man’s enemy.” When they mention the dreams and thoughts of everyone it makes you thing that the pearl will have an impact on everyone. With the mentioning of schemes it makes you think something bad will happen. It makes you c*ck in a eyebrow in confusion, you’ll think why would someone be scheming? Or what could they be scheming? This might be trouble for Kino in the future. So once again I think the author is foreshadowing an evil scheme in the near future for Kino. And when he said ‘Kino became every man’s enemy.’ It made you think that Kino was going to have trouble soon. It also is telling you that everyone has greedy needs, no matter how good of a person you try to be you’ll always have greedy thoughts. No one is perfect he is saying, and even though most people now think that the citizens that live near Kino are greedy nasty people they are wrong. It just proving that like everyone else in the world that they are human. I am sure every single person has had greedy or nasty thoughts no matter how hard they try to stop them.
9. Chapter IV - “Kino’s neighbors ‘had been afraid of something like this. The pearl was large, but it had a strange color. They had been suspicious of it from the first. And after all, a thousand pesos was not to be thrown away. It was comparative wealth to a man who was not wealthy. Only yesterday Kino had nothing.” Here they mention a thousand pesos to be something of importance to a poor man. To a poor person a thousand pesos was comparative to instant wealth. It really makes you wonder how truly poor Kino and his people were. It also makes you wonder why the Jewelers said Kino’s pearl was no good. It also makes you feel betrayed because the author took so much time trying to make you believe that the pearl was going to be the hope in Kino’s little Pandora’s box-like life. But some where you feel that deep down that they are lying, you believe so much that pearl is something important that you ignore what the jewelers said. That’s what the author wants, he wants you to feel like you’re Kino and that you feel cheated. He wants to set up the ending of the story where Kino realizes that pearl is indeed something big from the world of money. He knows deep down that the pearl is something that deserves more of than a thousand pesos. Unfortunately the neighbors are gullible and will believe anything out of the jewelers’ mouths. They switch there mind into believing that they were right all along when they though the pearl was a fake. Once again the author is poking fun at humans.
9. Chapter V - “Juana knew that the old life was gone forever. A dead man in the path, and Kino’s knife, dark bladed beside him, convinced her.” Here the author tells us that Juana had been right all along when she had feelings of suspicion. She thought the pearl would ruin and change their lives forever. Now she was correct because a man’s life had been taken over the pearl. She was truly convinced that the pearl was evil. Steinbeck proves that Juana is the voice of reason in this mixed up story. With all the deceit and violence going on, Juana is still level headed. You want to cheer for Juana because Kino has been mistreating her the whole story, although he didn’t lift a finger at her. He is taking her for granted and he doesn’t appreciate her enough. He needs to learn that Juan is just as strong as a man. She has a purpose and that is to change Kino’s life forever. She gives him reassurance, but you feel mad at Kino because he never listened to Juana in the first place. Juana feels that the pearl would bring them terrible luck, and it did. Now someone was dead and they could never go back the way they lived before. Steinbeck wants to prove that Kino is being greatly impacted by the pearl and everyone around him. He just needs to listen when people give him advice.
10. Chapter VI - “The sun was behind them and their long shadows stalked ahead and they seemed to carry two towers of darkness with them.” This quote gives you the feeling that this people very frightening and that luck was running in their favor. It makes you shake your head sadly and wonder what would happen to Kino and Juana next. Unfortunately Steinbeck’s point goes through clear as it does with all his sentences. Every little word has a purpose in creating the image of these ‘figures’. Not a single word in that sentence is without purpose. All of the words puts together a single scene in the story. Even though the story is short, this sentence like all others makes you feel like you’re truly seeing the figures. It also makes you feel like Steinbeck is also seeing these figures, and he is describing them to you in a way that fits in with the rest of the story. His whole aim is too make it seem like all the pearl is bringing Kino is sadness and pain.