Pearl (Steinbeck)

Discussion Questions
1. Why can neither Kino nor Juana protect their baby from the scorpion?

2. Why could Kino kill the doctor more easily than talk to him?

3. Why is it important to Juana that Kino be the one to throw the pearl back into the sea?

4. Why does Kino think the killing of a man is not as evil as the killing of a boat?

5. What does the narrator mean when he says, "A town is a thing like a colonial animal" (p. 21)?

6. Why does the music of the pearl change?

7. Why does Kino come to feel that he will lose his soul if he gives up the pearl?

8. Why does Tomás help Kino?

9. Why does Juana feel the events following the pearl's discovery may all have been an illusion?

10. What is the significance of Juana and Kino's walking side by side when they return to the town?

For Further Reflection

1. Did Kino do the right thing in demanding a fair price for the pearl, even if it meant leaving his community?

2. Why does Steinbeck choose the parable as the form for this story?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

top of page