1. The Pearl
Chapter 3

2. Vocabulary – Chapter 3 1) Semblance – false or deceptive appearance
2) Precipitated – brought on or caused,
usually suddenly
3) Lucent – clear & bright; crystal
4) Benediction – blessing or grace
5) Subjugation –servitude; defeat; enslavement

3. Vocabulary – Chapter 3 6) Dissembling – deceiving; disguising one’s
true feelings or aims
7) Clamored – made a loud noise;
roared or shouted
8) Furtive – stealthy, sly or sneaky
9) Consecrated – blessed or holy
10) Cozened – deceived; tricked

4. The Pearl - Chapter 3
In the opening, to what is the town compared? Why do you suppose the author makes this comparison?

5. He compares the town to a “colonial animal.” (page 21)
The comparison emphasizes not only the relationship of the part to the whole, but also the individuality of each town. Each person is a part of the larger whole, and each contributes to the welfare of the whole. The village became a town, just as one animal eventually becomes a community of cooperative animals.
Remember in Chapter 1 that Kino felt safe and secure because he felt a part of “the Whole.”

6. How does the news of the pearl affect the priest?
The priest thinks of repairs to the church that the pearl might help pay for.

7. How does the news of the pearl affect the shopkeepers?
The shopkeepers think about the clothes they might sell to Kino.

8. How does the news of the pearl affect the doctor?
The doctor is now quite willing to treat the baby, and we can be sure he will charge a high fee for his services.

9. How does the news of the pearl affect the beggars?
The beggars think of Kino’s hoped-for generosity.

10. Irony
The priest’s irony is that he expects Kino’s kindness, but does not even know if Coyotito has been baptized by the church.
The doctor, who previously refused to even see the baby, now claims that he is treating Coyotito for the scorpion sting.

11. In what sense does Kino become “every man’s enemy”?
Finding the pearl arouses everyone’s greed and envy. If people would only possess the pearl, they themselves could have everything, but because Kino has the pearl, he stands in their way.

12. How does Steinbeck compare the news of the pearl to the poisonous sting of the scorpion?
Steinbeck points out that a scorpion’s poison makes the person bitten ill, just as “the dreams, speculation, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the deeds, the lusts, the hungers of everyone” are spreading throughout the town and making the inhabitants sick. (pg. 23)

13. What literary term does Steinbeck employ on pg
What literary term does Steinbeck employ on pg. 23 to emphasize what the townspeople’s desire for the pearl was?
He uses similes: “…like hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when love is withheld.”

14. What does Kino say he will do once the pearl is sold?
Get married in the church
Buy clothes and a rifle
Educate his son

15. Kino hears “the music of evil” faintly. (pg
Kino hears “the music of evil” faintly. (pg. 27) Who do you think brings it in?
The priest enters; Kino, apparently, becomes uneasy and suspicious of him.

16. As the doctor approaches, why is Kino feeling rage?
He knows that the doctor has come only because the greedy man has heard the news about the pearl. Kino hates the doctor for the way he acts and also because he represents the evils of the entire system.

17. How does Kino feel trapped by his own ignorance?
Kino does not trust what the doctor says, but because of his own ignorance, especially his inability to read, he cannot be certain that the doctor’s information is not true.

18. What do you guess the doctor gives Coyotito?
The doctor may have given the child something to make him sick.

19. How does the doctor find out where Kino has hidden the pearl?
He mentions that the pearl may be stolen and carefully watches where Kino’s eyes dart.

20. After the intruder is scared off, what does Juana say about the pearl?
She says that the pearl is evil and will destroy them. She wants Kino to throw it away; she recognizes the great envy and greed the pearl has aroused. They had been happy and their life untroubled but no longer. Possessing the pearl has become a burden.

21. Why can Kino not do as Juana wants?
He sees the pearl as their only chance for a better future.