Editing The Pearl (novella) (section)

==Themes==
'''Family''' – One of the major themes in the novel is family. Throughout the novel, the plot discusses how the family lives before and after the pearl. It is the constant focus of the plot and many of the decisions are based on what would be best for the family. For example, the first thing that Kino desires to do with the money from the pearl is to give his wife and Coyotito a better life.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Caswell|first=Roger|title=A Musical Journey through John Steinbeck's The Pearl: Emotion, Engagement, and Comprehension|date=September 2005|volume=49|issue=1|journal=Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy|doi=10.1598/JAAL.49.1.7|pages=62–67}}</ref> This money would pay for Coyotito’s education, better clothes, and better protection. Later, Kino also demonstrates devotion to his family by not selling to the pearl dealer. The second buyer was trying to get the pearl for less than it was worth, but Kino, with his family in mind, declined to search for a better deal. He always has his family in mind, whether it leads to warmth and happiness or destruction. It was the reason Kino got the pearl and, eventually, the reason why he threw it back into the ocean.

'''Good and Evil''' – One of the major themes in this novel is the one between good and evil. Steinbeck complicates these simple notions of good and bad by showing how evil can come in beautiful or prestigious packages like the Doctor, the Priest, or even in the end, the Pearl of the World.

Kino often hears a refrain of music, a device Steinbeck uses to offer the reader insight into the inner world of the characters and the emotional crux of each scene.  Kino hears the music of evil first associated with the Western Doctor who only comes to help Coyotito's scorpion bite after he hears that Kino has found the Pearl. The Doctor lies to Kino by saying the baby is still sick when the narrator has told us that Coyotito is on the mend. At this moment, Kino is confused when he hears the music of evil because he wants to believe and look up to the Doctor, but the Doctor, like the other false friends he meets in town, are trying to take advantage of him.

'''Colonialism''' – While the story is presented as a fable with a simple moral at the end, seemingly to warn readers of being greedy or defying the gods by trying to change their station, the underlying message is a critique of the systemic economic and societal disparity between the indigenous community of which Kino and Juana are a part and the wealthier colonial settlers of the fictional La Paz, the neighboring city in Baja Mexico. Steinbeck portrays Kino and Juana as eager to gain access to the medicine and education of the colonial population after getting rejected by the local Doctor.  Once they find the pearl, they are willing to take great risks to give Coyotito access so that he might improve his station and gain knowledge from the world beyond their indigenous traditions. However, throughout the story, we see that the people in power in the city of plaster are well-placed to maintain their position of wealth and power by lying and conspiring against Kino and Juana when they come to the city to sell the pearl.

'''[[Paradox]]''' – The theme of paradox is displayed through Kino’s desires. Once Kino discovers the pearl, he begins to dream about what could come from this fortune as greed fills his head, but as he tries to carry out this plan, the good wealth also brings destruction to his family as he treats Juana poorly and is abusive. Though Kino desires good for his family, there is a paradox of an evil reality that he does not want. Kino tries to “avoid life’s inevitable tension” between these two but he finds that he cannot separate the good and the evil. In the end, the finding of the great prize causes him to lose another, his son.<ref>''Gladstein, Mimi (4 December 2009). "Fish Stories: Santiago and Kino in Text and Film". Wiley Online Library''</ref>

'''Perseverance''' – The theme of perseverance is demonstrated by many characters, but mainly Kino. Before he found the pearl, he was  a noble and a very determined person who sought fortune for his family.<ref name=":1" /> After he finds it, he is hoping to find it in a different way. Because Kino believes that this would save his family, he persists “through many obstacles”<ref name=":0" /> that accompany the pearl. He perseveres to keep the pearl but, in the end, it was not worth keeping.