In chapter 3, the doctor finally visits Kino and Juana under the pretense of helping their son, Coyotito. After the doctor leaves and the family retires for the night, Kino hears an intruder enter his hut and begin searching for the Pearl of the World. Kino silently grabs his knife and leaps at the intruder, stabbing into the darkness in hopes of wounding the man. During the exchange, Kino is struck in the head and the intruder manages to escape. Following the attack, Kino's head is bleeding and Juana tends to his wounds. Juana then tells her husband,

This thing is evil . . . Throw it away, Kino. Let us break it between stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It has brought evil. Kino, my husband, it will destroy us. (Steinbeck, 20)

Juana realizes that the pearl has caused evil to enter their lives. Before Kino discovered the Pearl of the World, their family was content, comfortable, and safe. By discovering the pearl, Kino has made numerous enemies and is viewed as a target. Juana is aware that the pearl has put her family in danger and understands that people will continue to attack them in order to steal the pearl. Tragically, Kino does not heed his wife's warnings or share her concerns. Kino sees the pearl as a vehicle for them to attain their wildest dreams. Kino is attacked for the second time in the next chapter and Juana reiterates her feelings regarding the malevolent nature of the pearl. At the beginning of chapter 5, Juana attempts to throw the pearl into the ocean but is stopped by her husband. Kino proceeds to beat Juana and is attacked a third time as he walks back to his hut.

Juana's "sixth sense" has already alerted her to the trouble ownig the pearl could bring on,  but it isn't until Kino is attacked in the night (and has to kill in self-defense) that her initial misgivings are confirmed. This incident could be considered the point of no return because from this moment on, Kino and Juana are on the run to escape reprisal (and are not just going to the city to try to sell the pearl themselves).

To Juana getting rid of the pearl would mean getting rid of the curse it has brought upon her family, and as we see later, her instinct about this is right. Kino, however, will not take her advice and insists on "winning" against the age-old system and hierarchy of "the rich" and "the poor."

Moreover, after the destruction of their house and their boat, Kino and Juana are not given a real alternative other than to leave. Kino is aware that the curse upon them might inflict harm to his extended family as well.  He tells his brother, "I am like a leprosy." Like the venom from the scorpion's sting, greed for the pearl has contaminated the whole community and has alienated Kino and Juana from everyone. They have lost their place in the community, but their greatest loss is yet to come.