Can anyone help me with the story **pearl** by John Steinbeck?

Question

I am really confused aboud the the story plz help me. i am confused about CLIMAX . THAT climax is where , In my opinion when scorpin stunk Kino child or some where else pleses help me.

climax

conflict

conclusion

theme

plese i need really help i am ESL student and I need more detail to understand everything.

Answer 1

Ask your homeschooler.  You are supposed to have someone "teaching" you!!!

Answer 2

Major Themes:

Greed as a Destructive Force:

As Kino seeks to gain wealth and status through the pearl, he transforms from a happy, contented father to a savage criminal, demonstrating the way ambition and greed destroy innocence. Kino’s desire to acquire wealth perverts the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck, transforming it from a symbol of hope to a symbol of human destruction. Furthermore, Kino’s greed leads him to behave violently toward his wife; it also leads to his son’s death and ultimately to Kino’s detachment from his cultural tradition and his society. Kino’s people seem poised for a similar destruction, as the materialism inherent in colonial capitalism implants a love of profit into the simple piety of the native people.

Colonial Society’s Oppression of Native Cultures:

The doctor who refuses to save Coyotito’s life at the beginning of the novel because Kino lacks the money to pay him represents colonial arrogance and oppression. Snide and condescending, the doctor displays an appallingly limited and self-centered mind-set that is made frightening by his unshakable belief in his own cultural superiority over Kino, and by the power that he holds to save or destroy lives. Steinbeck implicitly accuses the doctor’s entire colonial society of such destructive arrogance, greed, and ambition. The European colonizers that govern Kino and the native people are shown to bring about the destruction of the native society’s innocence, piety, and purity.

Conclusion:

Kino and Juana march through the town, past the brush houses, all the way to the sea. At the edge of the water, Kino stops and pulls the pearl from his pocket. Holding it up to the light, he stares into it carefully, and a flood of evil memories washes over him. Kino holds the pearl out in front of him, and then flings it out into the ocean. Kino and Juana watch the pearl as it splashes the surface, and stare at the spot quietly as the sun sets.

Conflict:

The first scene that starts to express the major conflict in the book occurs when the scorpion bites Coyotito.  This causes Kino to take him to the doctor in the town next to the village.  The doctor however is a vicious and selfish man.  He refuses to help Coyotito because Kino does not have the money to pay him.  The doctor dreams of a great life in France and feels that only by stripping others of money he will come to realize his dreams.  His refusal to help Coyotito causes Kino to search for the pearl.  When he finally finds it, everybody from the town also know and only then does the doctor come to help.

However, Kino sees that the doctor is only helping him because of the great pearl that he has. Kino realizes there that he could provide comfort and security for his family. He also plans for his son to go to school so that he too could know everything in the books and no one would be able to lie to them no more.  This leads to further complications because this is the point of the novel where Kino would do anything to protect the pearl, which he holds in such great value.  Therefore, by realizing how people change their attitudes toward him, Kino sets out on a journey to sell the pearl and become wealthy no matter what the consequences may be.

Another major conflict in the novel occurs when Kino is again attacked on the way back to his house.  This time, he stabs and kills his attacker.  As a result, he and Juana are forced to quickly flee from La Pez.  Before leaving, they discover their canoe has been destroyed and their straw house has been burned.  Kino now feels like a dangerous animal but he still refuses to throw away the pearl.  The night before when he found Juana near the shore trying to throw away the pearl he got out of his mind and did something that he would have never done before.  He hit his wife so hard that she had bruises on her face for a couple of days.  Here a change in Kino's character is shown very clearly. He no longer seems to honor his wife as he did before.  This scene leads to further complications in the novel because now Kino is able to do anything in protection of the pearl.

Climax:

In chapter six, Kino and his family flee from their country to go and sell their pearl. Evil trackers, hoping to steal the pearl, follow them on their journey. Coyotito's cry reveals the presence of Kino and his family, and the trackers shoot and kill their son. Finally, Kino hurls the pearl back into the sea.

Hope this helps.