Summary
Kino, a young, strong, poor fisherman, lives in a small town, La Paz, with his wife Juana, and his baby son, Coyotito. When the baby, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion, Kino must find a way to pay the town doctor so he will cure him. Shortly thereafter, Kino discovers an enormous pearl while out diving with Juana and he is ready to sell it for money to pay the doctor. Sadly, other forces work against Kino. Nearly as soon as he returns from sea, the whole town knows of the pearl. Everyone calls it "the pearl of the world," and many people begin to crave it. That very night Kino is attacked in his own home. Determined to get rid of the pearl, the following morning he takes it to the pearl buyers in town. Nevertheless, the pearl buyers all collude and refuse to pay him what he wants, so he decides to go to the capital city over the mountains to find a better price. However, Juana, seeing that the pearl brings darkness and greed, sneaks out of the house late at night to throw it back into the ocean. When Kino catches her, furious, he attacks her and leaves her on the beach. Returning to the house with the pearl, Kino is attacked by an unknown man whom he stabs and kills. The pearl is dropped and hidden from view. He thinks the men have taken the pearl, but Juana shows him that she has found it. When they go back to the town, they find their home has been set on fire. Kino and Juana spend the day hiding in the house of Kino's brother Juan Tomás and his wife and gathering provisions for their trip to the capital city. Only there can they hope to sell the pearl for a decent price and finally help Coyotito with the scorpion sting. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito leave in the dark of the night. After a brief rest in the morning, Kino spots trackers who are following them. Well aware that they will be unable to hide from the trackers, they begin hiking into the mountains. They find a cave near a natural water hole, where the exhausted family hides and waits for the trackers to catch up to them. The trackers find the water hole and decided to rest there for the night. Kino realizes that he must get rid of the trackers if they are to survive the trip to the capital. He's getting ready to attack when the men hear a cry like a baby's though they decide it's more like a coyote with a litter. One of the men fires his rifle in the direction of the crying, where Juana and Coyotito lie. Kino tackles the man down, takes the gun and kills all of the trackers. Kino then realizes that something is wrong, he climbs back up to the cave to discover that the man's shot had killed Coyotito. Kino and Juana then return to La Paz, mourning, no longer wanting the pearl, with Coyotito's dead body. Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean and it then sinks to the bottom of the sea.
Read more about this topic: The Pearl (novel)
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