The Pearl of Great Price
...roduction of possible wealth in the family of a poor person creates an epidemic of greed and envy among the powerful, wealthy people as well as the poor laborers. The subsistence laborers risked their lives in a kind of lottery game. All of them hoped to find a “Pearl of the World,” but none of them really expected to. “In the song there was a secret little inner song...The Song of The Pearl That Might Be.” When Kino finds such a pearl, the social structure is shaken. “Even before Kino and Juana and the others had come... the nerves of the town were pulsating and vibrating with the news.” At first everyone wants to make some claim on Kino’s friendship. The uncharitable doctor filled with pride that Kino was his client, and the beggars giggled to think of Kino’s alms. People immediately wanted to know what he would do with the treasure, suggesting various purchases or donations to the Church. They are ready to admire him if things go well or condemn him if they do not. Most assume things will not turn out well because their underlying assumption is that Kino is “rebelling against the way things are.” Kino’s reaction is at once joy, hope, longing, and fear. Although his prayers have been answered and he knows he has wealth, he believes the gods will punish anyone who makes plans and feels secure. He tighten his grip on the gem and “felt alone and unprotected.” His fears are not unreasonable, for the vultures begin to circle him immediately. The priest wants to see to Kino’s spiritual health for the first time, and the solicitous doctor makes a house-call, playing on the ignorant man’s worry for his son. Eventually, Kino’s anxiety over the gods’ ill-favor, the ill-will of the neighbors, and the insincere attention from the upper classes makes Kino tell Juana that he fears “everyone.” Like an oyster, he closes down both his fist and his heart over the pearl. Later, the gentle husband and father uses that fist against Juana when she suggests, “This pearl is like a sin...It will destroy us.” She tries to get ...