"Cliff Notes - Pearl, The" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

When you read Chapters III and IV you'll notice Steinbeck's comparison of a town to a "colonial animal." Very primitive single-celled organisms (paramecia, for example) often group together into colonies--sometimes called aggregations--for the purpose of feeding or mating. Steinbeck used this biological aggregation as a model for the social groupings of higher level animals, including human beings. Human society is composed of individuals (like the single-celled animals), whose survival depends on interrelationships. Kino is alone when he finds the pearl, but the discovery of the pearl quickly travels throughout the village--the social, or colonial, animal--which reacts as an entirety with greed, envy, and dreams.

^^^^^^^^^^THE PEARL: STYLE

The Pearl is a short novel. Its plot is well defined, the action moves forward within a structure of six chapters, it has a core of central characters, and the suspense builds as the story moves along. Readers say the sentences reflect the spoken quality of the New Testament--perhaps an influence of Steinbeck's early reading of the Bible. The author has chosen his words with precision, a skill he developed in part by working as a journalist.

In the preface to The Pearl you learn that the story will be told in the form of a parable. A parable is a short work, usually fictitious, that illustrates a lesson, often on the subject of good and evil. This is reminiscent of the New Testament, where many of Christ's lessons are told in parable form. The biblical tone is underscored by Steinbeck's mention in the preface of the struggle between good and evil.

Also, like the Bible (and traditional folktales), The Pearl contains little dialogue. The characters speak infrequently, but their thoughts and feelings are made clear through Steinbeck's powerful descriptions. He excelled at selecting the exact word and correct turn of phrase--and his lack of dialogue emphasizes the quiet intensity and simple manner of his characters. Their nonverbal quality helps to reinforce their discomfort in the presence of the sophisticated doctor, priest, and pearl buyers, who are experts at using language.

The Pearl contains many scientific metaphors and similes--figures of speech used to compare one object with another in order to suggest a similarity between them. For example, the Indian village is compared to the habitat of a colonial animal.

^^^^^^^^^^THE PEARL: POINT OF VIEW

The Pearl is told by a third-person narrator who stands outside the action and knows everything about the characters and their actions. The narrator is said to be omniscient, which means all-knowing. In the introduction and in the final passage of the novel, the narrator speaks of events that happened long ago and have become important through repetition: "And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man's mind."

For most of the novel, the narrator abandons the past and takes you directly into the present. This is the advantage of his omniscience: he can move back and forth, from past to present to future, whenever a different focus will help you understand his story. Perhaps the most gripping narrative in the present is the one where Kino attacks and kills the trackers. In this passage, you feel you are part of the action--as if you were standing next to Kino.

The movement from distant narration of the past to close-up narration that seems to recount the present may seem inconsistent. But remember that Steinbeck is trying to tell an old tale in the form of a novel. He needs a narrator who can communicate both the immediate action of the novel's plot and the universal nature of the tale (or parable).

The third-person narrative is also flexible in its focus on characters. It allows you to change perspectives and to judge the characters for their individual thoughts and actions. The thoughts and actions of characters are not filtered through the intelligence of one person, as in a first-person narration, but are presented reasonably objectively and with the wide-ranging facts available to an omniscient narrator.

^^^^^^^^^^THE PEARL: FORM AND STRUCTURE

An important novel can usually be interpreted on many levels, and this is certainly the case with The Pearl. The book's structure is as simple as the legend, or folktale, on which it is based: It begins and ends with Kino as an impoverished fisherman who, in the process of pursuing his dream, is nearly destroyed. Readers often speak of The Pearl as an allegory or a parable.

An allegory is a story meant to teach a spiritual or moral lesson, in which the characters and action symbolize abstract concepts. A parable is a short allegory, which has long been associated with the New Testament. Christ used parables to teach moral lessons (for example, the Good Samaritan and the lesson of the Talents).

Some readers see The Pearl as an allegory of social oppression. In this view, Juan Tomas is a symbol of the ancient Indian wisdom, Kino is a symbol of the Indians' desire for freedom, and the doctor, priest, and pearl buyers are symbols of the oppressive Spanish culture. The pearl represents Kino's means of escaping oppression, but the powerful forces of the social system are too strong for even the pearl to overcome. When Kino throws his great treasure back into the sea, the message seems to be that the poor Indian doesn't have a chance.

Other readers see in The Pearl a strong allegorical message about human greed. Kino becomes the symbol of the poor but happy man who is destroyed when he begins to want the things of the material world. The pearl that was supposed to bring happiness and fulfillment brings only destruction. At the end both Kino's dream and his son are dead.

In the original story on which Steinbeck based his own, the fisher sees the pearl as a means of saving his soul through the purchase of Roman Catholic masses "sufficient to pop him out of Purgatory like a squeezed watermelon seed." (Purgatory, in Catholicism, is the temporary place or condition where the repentant sinner is absolved after death, and where mortal sins are punished before the soul can attain salvation.) When the fisher decides to throw the pearl back, he feels like a "free man" despite the insecurity of both his soul and his future.

In the novel, Kino says that the pearl has become his soul. This closely echoes the Gospel According to Matthew in the New Testament, in which the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a "pearl of great price." If the pearl is seen as a symbol of salvation, what is the meaning of its loss at the end? Is Kino, like the fisherman of the original story, lucky to return to a state of simple human happiness and poverty? Or is he denied a soul as punishment for his reliance on material things, or for his daring to overreach his lowly status?

In his preface to The Pearl, Steinbeck says: "If the story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it...." It's up to you to decide whether the story is a parable, and what meaning you derive from it. In order to be effective, the true parable or allegory must attempt to resolve a conflict in such a way that a consistent interpretation or conclusion can be drawn. Do you think there is one such consistent meaning? Or, do you think the novel can be interpreted on many levels?

^^^^^^^^^^THE PEARL: THE PREFACE

The Pearl begins with a short preface in which Steinbeck introduces the story of the great pearl, along with his three main characters--Kino the fisherman, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito. Their story has been told so often, the Preface asserts, that it lives in people's minds and hearts. The story can be considered a parable.

NOTE: THE INTRODUCTION Steinbeck inserted the Preface to make sure readers understood that the story had universal importance. Through stylized language and the suggestion of a parable, he indicates that you should look beyond the simple plot in order to find a deeper meaning. Perhaps because he had been criticized for creating shallow or flat characters, this short introduction is his way of announcing that the characters are to be regarded mainly as symbols.

^^^^^^^^^^THE PEARL: CHAPTER I

As a new day begins, Kino awakens peacefully next to his sleeping wife. He is content with his world and hears the Song of the Family playing happily in his mind. It is an indication that all is well.

NOTE: THE SONGS AND WHOLENESS Throughout The Pearl you will read about various "songs" that play in the minds of Steinbeck's characters. Such songs include the Song of the Family and the Song of Evil. These are ancient songs that have been passed down by generations of Indians. Steinbeck uses them to show the traditional, almost instinctual responses of his characters to their environment. When things are happy, they hear the Song of the Family. When evil threatens, they are alerted by the Song of Evil. Kino's songs often mark occasions of celebration: he celebrates the morning and the existence of his family; he celebrates life and its events. The songs were individual parts of the Whole. This theme of wholeness is central to Steinbeck's thinking: everything has its place in the universe, and when something happens to one of the parts, the whole system is affected.