Noah Graham
English 10
Period 1
10/12/11
Oppression
“Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.”- . In this quote, we can see the outlook of the many leaders in The Pearl. Napoleon can be compared the doctor, priest and the pearl buyers. The fact that all of these people oppress others in many ways makes them similar. In the story The Pearl written by John Steinbeck, We see many examples of oppression such through people as the doctor, the priest and the pearl buyers.
The first example of oppression in the story was the doctor. When The doctor says, “Have I nothing better to do than cure insect bites for ‘Little Indians’? I am a doctor, not a veterinary.” (page 14) He implies that he is better or higher then Kino and all Indians in general. The racist doctor uses animal terms to describe Kino as if Kino himself is an animal.
The second and most obvious example of oppression is from the priest. “kino,” he said softly, “thou art named after a great man-and a great father of the church.” (page 35) this is the line that is used to persuade Kino into donating money to the church. The priest uses his knowledge of the church to oppress Kino. This is a very different form of oppression, but still the same as the doctor.
The third and final example of oppression in The Pearl, is the oppression from the collusion of pearl buyers. “You have heard of fool’s gold?” asked the buyer, “this pearl is like fool’s gold. It is too large. Who would buy it?”(page 69) similar to what the priest did, the pearl buyers cheat Kino out of an expensive pearl, knowing he will have to sell to one of them. Kino. Since Kino does not know about pearls, he must trust the buyer. This oppression is very different to the priest and doctor, but they are all taking advantage of Kino.
In the novel The Pearl, we see the many different ways of oppression. This book may be considered a parable teaching us to always question the trust we have in others. Steinbeck isn’t saying that we shouldn’t trust others, but rather we should balance our trust with a sense of skepticism. Although we should always be determined, Steinbeck’s message of the story is that determination can push us too far. If Kino hadn’t been so determined to sell his pearl, he would not have climbed the mountain where his san Coyotito was killed. He would not of argued with his wife as often. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein
