The Pearl Group

Question:

tayabahamid
tayabahamid
Student
High School - 10th Grade

What is the central/main idea of the story "The Pearl"?

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Posted by tayabahamid on Wednesday August 5, 2009 at 6:47 AM and tagged with central idea, main idea, reference, the pearl.

Answers:

  1. dneshan
    dneshan Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    "The Pearl" is considered to be a parable; therefore, you would say that the main or central idea is actually the moral or message of the story.  This moral is that people are sometimes so fixated on greed and becoming wealthy that they lose sight of what is important in life.  This main idea or moral is evident in quite a few characters in the novella.  Kino is so fixated on the idea that the pearl is going to make him rich that he ends up beating his wife and mistakingly killing his young son.  The pearl buyers and the doctor are also so overcome by greed that they lie, cheat, and try to steal in order to get money.  Finally, it is the character of Juana who shows an example of how people should act rather than the way that the novella's greedy characters do act.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/pearl

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    Posted by dneshan on Friday August 14, 2009 at 11:23 AM