The Pearl
The Pearl (1947) is somewhat of a departure from some of his earlier works. The novel has been compared to Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1952). The seeds of Steinbeck's The Pearl began to germinate in 1940 when he was traveling in the Sea of Cortez and heard a story about a young man who found a large pearl. From that basic outline, Steinbeck reinvented the tale of Kino and his young family to include his own experiences, including in his novel the recent birth of a son, and how that exhilaration affects a young man. The novel is also, in some ways, a representation of his long appreciation of Mexican culture. He made the story into a parable, warning his readers of the corrupting influences of wealth.
In The Pearl, Kino's neighbors all knew what good fortune could do to him, his wife, and his new baby boy. "That good wife Juana," they said, "and the beautiful baby Coyotito, and the others to come. What a pity it would be if the pearl should destroy them all."
Even Juana tries to throw the pearl into the sea to free them from its poison. And she knew that Kino was "half insane and half god... that the mountain would stand while the man broke himself; that the sea would surge while the man drowned in it." But, she needed him yet, and she would follow him, even as he admits to his brother: "This pearl has become my soul... If I give it up I shall lose my soul."
The Pearl (1947) is somewhat of a departure from some of his earlier works. The novel has been compared to Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1952). The seeds of Steinbeck's The Pearl began to germinate in 1940 when he was traveling in the Sea of Cortez and heard a story about a young man who found a large pearl. From that basic outline, Steinbeck reinvented the tale of Kino and his young family to include his own experiences, including in his novel the recent birth of a son, and how that exhilaration affects a young man. The novel is also, in some ways, a representation of his long appreciation of Mexican culture. He made the story into a parable, warning his readers of the corrupting influences of wealth.
In The Pearl, Kino's neighbors all knew what good fortune could do to him, his wife, and his new baby boy. "That good wife Juana," they said, "and the beautiful baby Coyotito, and the others to come. What a pity it would be if the pearl should destroy them all."
Even Juana tries to throw the pearl into the sea to free them from its poison. And she knew that Kino was "half insane and half god... that the mountain would stand while the man broke himself; that the sea would surge while the man drowned in it." But, she needed him yet, and she would follow him, even as he admits to his brother: "This pearl has become my soul... If I give it up I shall lose my soul."
The pearl sings to Kino, telling him of a future where his son will read and he may become something more than a poor fisherman. In the end, the pearl doesn't fulfill any of its promises. It only brings death and emptiness. As the family returned to their old house, the people around them said that they seemed "removed from human experience," that they had "gone through pain and had come out the other side; that there was almost a magical protection about them."
The Story of a Family (Edenic Myth): East of Eden
East of Eden was originally titled The Salinas Valley because Steinbeck started the book as a history of his family. The scope of the book became much more expansive, as he began to see the book as the culmination of his writing career. He called it "the story of my country and the story of me." DeMott quotes Steinbeck's letter to Covici, which said: "I think there is only one book to a man." He said, "Always before I held something back for later. Nothing is held back here."
The Story of a Family (Edenic Myth): East of Eden
East of Eden was originally titled The Salinas Valley because Steinbeck started the book as a history of his family. The scope of the book became much more expansive, as he began to see the book as the culmination of his writing career. He called it "the story of my country and the story of me." DeMott quotes Steinbeck's letter to Covici, which said: "I think there is only one book to a man." He said, "Always before I held something back for later. Nothing is held back here."
Epic in scope, the novel begins in 1862 with the story of Cyrus Trask, who experiences the Civil War just long enough to be shot and to have his leg amputated, though his tall tales of war and soldiery tell many more glorious excursions than just that one short skirmish. From Cyrus's experiences, we follow the lives of his descendants until we reach the days of World War I. Besides the story of Cyrus Trask's descendants, who came to live in a place that could be Eden, we learn about the Hamiltons, a family rich in laughter, even though their land is dry and barren. Here, too, we see, smell, and hear about the Salinas Valley.
Deeply embedded into the story of the two families and their eventual friendship, Steinbeck has also set a tale of Biblical proportions. It's a story of Adam and his Eve (Cathy/Kate), their twin boys, Aron and Caleb, and all the tragedy that throws their family into chaos and destruction. When they speak of Cain and Abel upon the naming of the boys, Lee says, "I think this is the best-known story in the world because it is everybody's story. I think it is the symbol story of the human soul."
Deeply embedded into the story of the two families and their eventual friendship, Steinbeck has also set a tale of Biblical proportions. It's a story of Adam and his Eve (Cathy/Kate), their twin boys, Aron and Caleb, and all the tragedy that throws their family into chaos and destruction. When they speak of Cain and Abel upon the naming of the boys, Lee says, "I think this is the best-known story in the world because it is everybody's story. I think it is the symbol story of the human soul."
The Joys & Sorrows of Literature
As Steinbeck wrote: "All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil." With the war not far behind him, Steinbeck was also focused on the inevitable result of war. Speaking of the winter of 1917-1918, with the Germans smashing through, "It was not uncommon for people to turn away from the war, some to fantasy and some to vice and some to crazy gaiety." The people turned to fortunetellers, but beyond that, they "turned inward to their private joys and tragedies to escape the pervasive fear and despondency."
In the very act of exploring the lives and deaths of characters in such a large scape, Steinbeck also explores his own worst fears.
Here is a culmination of Steinbeck's storytelling, though it's not the end. We're left with the realization that forgiveness is the last and only possibility, and that life goes on in spite of all of the tragedies that come along. And, there amidst the silence and death, some happiness can still be found.
As Steinbeck wrote: "All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil." With the war not far behind him, Steinbeck was also focused on the inevitable result of war. Speaking of the winter of 1917-1918, with the Germans smashing through, "It was not uncommon for people to turn away from the war, some to fantasy and some to vice and some to crazy gaiety." The people turned to fortunetellers, but beyond that, they "turned inward to their private joys and tragedies to escape the pervasive fear and despondency."
In the very act of exploring the lives and deaths of characters in such a large scape, Steinbeck also explores his own worst fears.
Here is a culmination of Steinbeck's storytelling, though it's not the end. We're left with the realization that forgiveness is the last and only possibility, and that life goes on in spite of all of the tragedies that come along. And, there amidst the silence and death, some happiness can still be found.
