Imbalance Between the Natives and Spaniards in John Steinbeck’s The Pearl Essay Sample
The dynamic between the native people and the spanish colonizers in John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl,” is an interesting but all too familiar one. One of the major parts of the power imbalance between the two groups is their houses, their education, and their access to certain things.
In The Pearl, the story starts off with Kino waking up pre-dawn next to his wife, Juana. He says that his house is made of brush when Steinbeck describes the way the light from the fire bounces off of it. He then later describes the way to the Doctor’s house, “They came to the place where the brush houses stopped and the city of stone and plaster began, the city of harsh outer walls and inner cool gardens where a little water played and the bougainvillea crusted the walls with purple and brick-red and white” (8).This is a stark contrast between Kino’s brush hut by the water and he even goes as far as to mention the place where the brush houses ended. It isn’t hard to imagine that most natives like Kino live in these brush huts while the wealthier spaniards live in lush neighborhoods with brick houses and pretty yards. These houses have running water and most likely have electricity while the brush house Kino lives in has neither.
The housing contrast isn’t the only difference between the natives and colonizers but it has to do with their education. When Kino is talking about what he wants to do now that he has the pearl, he mentions enrolling Coyotito in school. “‘My son will read and open the books, 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’” (26). Kino says and everyone listens to him. For the wealthy people, they wouldn’t even bat an eye at enrolling their children in school but for Kino and many other natives, it's only a dream with no substance. The Doctor comes to Kino’s house when he hears about the pearl and apologizes for “being busy” and he checks Coyotito’s eyelid and lies about the poison getting worse. He uses his knowledge to take advantage of Kino’s family and feeds Coyotito something that makes him even more sick to get more money out of him for the pearl.
Kino gets distracted and talks about what he's going to buy with the money from the pearl and he lists a sailor suit for Coyotito and a new harpoon. The idea for the harpoon then morphs into buying a gun when he thinks about it a little bit more. Everyone was listening and hushed whispers broke out when he said he wants to buy a gun because the natives don’t usually have a chance to buy good weapons. Its normal for the Spaniards to have guns and big houses and fancy clothes but the natives don’t have the opportunity to get money to get the expensive items.
The power imbalance between the natives and Spaniards is blindingly clear from the difference in Kino and the Doctor’s houses, Kino’s basic education and education when it comes to medical things like with the Doctor, and the access to items like guns, clothes, and money.
