The Pearl

The narrator introduces The Pearl as a parable, which is a short story intended to teach a principle. Such stories, passed along from generation to generation (as The Pearl claims to have been), typically illustrate or reinforce the beliefs and values of a community. For instance, Juan Tomás reminds Kino about earlier attempts to bypass the pearl dealers in order to caution him against taking a similar course. Considering the novella as a whole, what central message or messages do the members of Kino’s community seem most likely to derive from his story? What kinds of attitudes and actions does it seem to encourage or discourage? Are those who hear Kino’s story more or less equipped to productively confront The Instruments of Colonial Oppression? How so?

Teaching Suggestion: One way to help students approach this question with a rigorous analytical mindset might be to focus on the pearl as a complicated symbol: Does it represent wealth, merely the desire for wealth, or something else? As students establish a working understanding of the pearl’s significance, they can begin to identify the parable’s moral implications, since any interpretation of the parable hinges on the nature of the evil that the pearl embodies. You could even guide students through several hypothetical conceptions of the pearl’s significance, showing how they yield different moral implications, and then ask students to argue for or against any competing interpretations you uncover.