Nothing Goes As Planned: “The Pearl” By John Steinbeck

Kino and his family were appreciative of everything they had, but when Kino discovers the pearl it shapes him to become a different person. He sees the pearl as a symbol of hope and protection. It holds wealth, which drives Kino into an ambition to get money. What he doesn’t know is that the pearl holds an evil within it and by the end of the story they learn an important lesson. In The Pearl, Steinbeck uses irony and imagery to reveal the message that nothing goes as planned.

Steinbeck uses irony to reveal the message that nothing goes as planned. Irony is when the book says something is expected to happen but what ends up happening is completely different, which makes it ironic. For example when Kino and Juana talk about how Coyotito will have an education, “My son will go to school” “My son will read and open books. ” but at the end of the book Coyotito ends up dying, “Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. ” Another example is when Kino expects to be compensated a lot of money for the pearl. He is asked, “What will you do now that you have become a rich man?” Kino replies, “We will get married in a church. ” “We will have new clothes. ” “A rifle, perhaps a rifle. ” and “My son will go to school. ” These are all necessities for him and his family and in order to get what he needs he will need money, so later in the story when Kino goes to trade the pearl for money he is told, “This pearl is like fool’s gold. ” meaning the pearl has no worth and will not receive the money that Kino has hoped for.

Steinbeck uses imagery to reveal the message that nothing goes as planned. Imagery is used many times in this story, for instance, in the opening Kino and his family are serene and are satisfied, “In Kino’s head there was a song now, clear and soft, and if he had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the Song of Family. ” this shows how smooth everything is around Kino, but as the story continues the song in Kino’s head gets more intense, “A dead man in the path and Kino’s knife, dark bladed beside him. ” this shows a turning point in their life that they didn’t foresee.

Kino never expected to find the pearl or kill a man, he never expected from his baby to die. We never suspect anything, we don’t know our future, so we shouldn’t make a plan and hope it goes one way because half of the time it never goes the way you assume it will. In The Pearl Steinbeck uses Irony and Imagery to reveal the message that nothing goes as planned. I don’t know what will occur in my future and this story showed me to not plan and hope for it to go sleekly when in reality my plan will have a couple of knocks along the way.

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