Essay on Kino's and Juana’s Fate in the Pearl by John Steinbeck

Was Kino's and Juana’s fate avoidable or unavoidable from the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck? I think it is avoidable. They did some things that could have changed their fate. Furthermore, the attention they attracted. Moreover, I don't believe that the pearl is evil because it may bring the evil in people but I don't really believe the pearl itself is. I will give three examples and how they could have their fate avoided.  

What if Kino did not find the pearl? Furthermore, the doctor would not have heard about it and would have given Coyotito poison. But Coyotito would still be well because they tried to find it and Juana still puts the algae in the poison “bite”. The thieves would have not tried to steal and have hurt Kino, and he would not have killed anyone. Moreover, his house would not have been burned down. Also, his canoe would not have been destroyed. He would not have any enemies. Nothing bad would have happened and Kino would not change and become violent and greedy. Even the book says that when Kino started to change “Kino was already making a hard skin for himself against the world.”.

What If Kino had thrown the pearl away like Juana said, what would happen? I believe that nothing bad will happen. The news that a pearl was thrown back into the water would travel. Furthermore, the people would stop trying to rob them and the whole burning things and Coyotito getting poisoned would not have happened. However, there would be a lot of people diving to catch it and people thinking that they were crazy for doing that.

Was everything that happened the pearls fault? I don't believe that. Because as the author said a lot of times (“All manner of people grew interested in Kino—people with things to sell and people with favors to ask.”, "Kino had found the Pearl of the World., For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing, and they want something more.”, “No one shall take our good fortune from us,”) the pearl brings the evil in people. Moreover, in another way the pearl is also the cause but not the cause people are motivated by it. They wanted to have it, so they could do something of their own like the priest who wanted to fix the church, the doctor that wanted to go back to Paris, that one village person who wanted to give the money to the poor village.

In conclusion Juana’s and Kino's fate could have been altered if they had taken different actions. Furthermore, most of those changes would also mean losing the pearl in some way. Maybe if they had calculated their exact actions they could even have Kino's dreams come true, which were an education for Coyotito, new clothes and more. However, there was not a way that they would know what would happen with every action they took.