The Pearl (the setting)

This is a powerpoint by Amanda Tankersley. This presentation completes the summer reading and assignement for English 1 Pre AP

1. John Steinbeck

2. The Pearl is set in a small fishing village in La Paz Mexico. A
year is never mentioned, but it is probably during the early
1900’s.
A quote from the book “one big cart going through town in the
morning” is evidence that there were no motor vehicles. It is
also evident that the pearl divers use no modern diving
equipment.

4. cruisecritic.com

5. cruisecritic.com

6. mexconnect.com

8. www.juanyjuan.com/ThenAndNow.htm
“Little tufts of grass sprouted
with one single rain. The
singing heat lay over this
desert country, and ahead the
stone mountains looked cool and
welcoming” – The Pearl

9. http://www.mexicobuyersguide.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/la-paz-bay.bmp
The Pearl by John Steinbeck takes place in the small impoverished town of La Paz
Mexico where men would kill for just the very thought of wealth.
The setting of The Pearl is important to the message of this book because it describes
how poverty stricken the town of La Paz was. So, being in the coastal area of Baja
Mexico, one of the major industries was pearl diving. Once Kino found this “Pearl of
the World”, of course you could understand the magnitude of it, being that most of the
people in La Paz lived in “brush houses”. The “Pearl of the World” brought great and
sudden riches to a once penniless Kino, and with all great riches comes great
responsibility and problems. Kino never had any education, and once finding “The
Pearl of the World” he wanted his infant son, Coyotito to have and education.
“ ‘My son will go to school,’ he said, and the neighbors were hushed… ‘My son will
read and open the books, and my son will write and will know writing. And my son will
make numbers, and these things will make us free because he will know-he will know
and through him we will know”-The Pearl
Kino, desperately wanted his son to know what he didn’t, and killed when someone
tried to steal that one, and probably only chance of his dream to come true. Because
of his act of desperation, they ran. They ran into the mountains. After them were
trackers, with a rifle. In the end, Kino’s act of desperation was in vain, for his son was
killed while trying to protect him.
The moral was to not let the great gift of riches affect you, and that you would be
better without it in the first place. What better place to show the immense effects of
great wealth then a poverty-stricken town that will never see that much again in ten
life times?