Discussion Topic
Coyotito's role in achieving freedom for his family in "The Pearl"
Summary:
Coyotito's role in achieving freedom for his family in "The Pearl" is symbolic. His presence motivates Kino and Juana to seek a better future. However, the tragic outcome of Coyotito's death highlights the destructive consequences of greed and the loss of innocence, ultimately serving as a catalyst for Kino's realization of the true cost of his ambitions.
In "The Pearl" Chapter 3, what will specifically set Coyotito and the family free?
Kino hopes that the Pearl of the World will open new parts of his world for his family and free them from their poverty and ignorance.
The music of the pearl had merged with the music of the family so that one beautified the other. (Ch. 3)
Kino imagines that he and Juana will be married in the church; he will own a
harpoon to replace one he lost a year ago, and even buy a rifle. Further, he
envisions Coyotito in the future, sitting at a little desk in a school, writing
on a large piece of paper. Someday, too, the boy will be able to read books.
And, if anyone is ill, the doctor will come.
The Pearl of the World creates a music of promise and delight, a guarantee for comfort and safety in the future. Its luminescence will ensure his family against illness and protect them...
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from sickness. They will be free from the worries and the threats of poverty.
In "The Pearl", how does Coyotito help his parents achieve freedom?
In the story, Kino's 'Pearl of the World' was to have been the means by which Coyotito would lift his family out of poverty and degradation; the pearl was to have purchased an education for Coyotito. Instead, Coyotito's death changes everything for his parents.
Kino and Juana are initially jubilant when they realize what the pearl could mean for them. Kino dreams about marrying Juana, owning a new harpoon and rifle, and best of all, sending Coyotito to school, where he will learn how to read, write, and work with numbers. However, his neighbors and acquaintances also have new plans for his unexpected windfall. The doctor who initially refuses to treat Coyotito for his scorpion sting suddenly claims the boy as his patient. However, he harbors evil intentions towards Coyotito and his parents. He schemes to get a hold of the pearl, envisioning what a new life filled with riches would bring him. He dreams of the good life, imagining 'himself sitting in a restaurant in Paris and a waiter... opening a bottle of wine.'
Meanwhile, beggars in the village think that Kino will likely be generous with his new-found wealth. The pearl buyers want to get their own hands on the pearl, and even the priest tries to manipulate Kino into remembering his duties to the church. The small family is attacked by henchmen in the night and this worries Juana so much that she tries to cast the pearl back into the ocean. She worries that the pearl is starting to poison every part of their lives. Kino manages to stop her, but he is attacked while still on the shore. He manages to kill his attacker, and the small family find themselves fleeing for their lives.
Kino and his family plan to escape to Lorento, a northern town, but they are hunted down by trackers, intent upon stealing the pearl for themselves. In a shootout, the top of the baby's head is blown off, and Coyotito becomes a casualty of the fatal encounter. Grieved beyond measure, Kino and Juana resolutely walk home to their village, determined to cast the cursed pearl back into the sea. With this fateful action, occasioned by Coyotito's death, the couple will finally obtain a pyrrhic compensation for their sufferings, albeit at the expense of lost hope. Coyotito has secured for his parents freedom from fear, harassment, and physical intimidation at the hands of greedy opportunists, at the cost of his own life.