Abstract

Dreams and hopes for better living conditions are quite frequent in John Steinbeck's literary works. In the Pearl, Kino and his concubine Juana are in such dire straits, that they strongly believe that only the pearl of the world could lift them from poverty upto a middle-class position. They could not imagine that poverty as well as wealth are respectively sources of misfortunes and calamities. While living in poverty, they face many problems caused by the scorpion's stinging of their beloved Coyotito and the doctor's refusal to cure the baby because of the couple's moneyless situation After finding the pearl of the world, the couple's hopes for a better livelyhood are turned into calamities by stonehearted buyers, who have put their heads together to cheat him, and criminal robbers that Kino has been obliged to murder. While running away to go to the town where he hopes to sell the pearl, his son is killed by one of the trackers. Then, Kino and Juana stoically return to their community to throw the pearl back into the ocean and face their destinies.