There are many qualities to great pieces of literacy. Two of these qualities are deep feeling for nature and a profound sympathy for people. American writer John Steinbeck utilizes these qualities to create stories with intense and ironic plots, creating characters that struggle to live even under the most brutal conditions and that are moved by forces they can hardly understand or control. His parable, "The Pearl", is one such story that clearly demonstrates the utilization of these qualities. The qualities are revealed when Kino finds the pearl, when Kino retaliates against the trackers, and when the couple returns to La Paz.
In the beginning, Kino rows out to the Gulf on his canoe, which Kino's and his family's survival depended on. He regularly goes out to the Gulf to acquire food and in rare occasions, pearls. "He hooked his foot in the loop on his rock and his hands worked quickly, tearing the oysters loose, some single, others in clusters" (Steinbeck 833). This quote shows Kino diving at the oysters to find a pearl. Kino does this because Kino is desperate: he does not have the expenses to pay for the treatment for his son. So that his baby may live, he dives into the cold sea yet knowing that he may be diving in vain showing his struggle to survive under these harsh factors. Fortunately he does find a pearl, but not just any pearl, but the Pearl of the World. Finding just a regular pearl itself is considered to be extremely lucky for it is stated in the story, "for every shell thrown in the basket might contain a pearl. Chance was against it, but luck and the gods might be for it" (Steinbeck 833). If you find a pearl, basically the gods have granted it to you. Kino's fortune allows him prevent his baby's death. However, luck and the will of the gods is something that is neither understood nor controlled by humans.
After Kino killed a man, he and his family had to escape on land because there was a hole on the canoe.