Short Summary
Kino, a Mexican-Indian pearl diver, finds an enormous pearl he believes will free his family from poverty. Instead, it draws greed, violence, and corruption — from the town doctor, the pearl buyers, and unknown assassins. Kino kills men protecting the pearl. His infant son Coyotito is shot dead by a soldier pursuing them. Kino and his wife Juana return to their village and throw the pearl back into the sea.
Detailed Summary
Kino and Juana live in a brush hut by the sea in a poor Mexican-Indian village near La Paz. Their world is ancient, communal, and ordered — Steinbeck renders their morning routine with almost ceremonial simplicity. One morning, a scorpion stings their baby Coyotito. Kino kills the scorpion, but the ...