Literature Guides
The Pearl Characters and Analysis
Main Characters and Analysis
Kino
The protagonist is a devoted father and husband who goes to great lengths to secure the funds to help cure his son’s illness. However upon his newfound riches he develops an ambition that consumes him. He refuses to sell the pearl at a humble price, he also refuses to dispose of the pearl despite it being a force of evil that brings forward impending danger.
Kino beats his wife, commits murder, risks his home, his ancestral canoe and his son’s life just to keep the pearl. However, he realizes that the pearl rather than bring him more happiness, took away everything he cherished. In the end, Kino disposes of the pearl and reverts back to his old ways but with the cost of losing his own son.
Juana
She is the devoted wife of Kino and a very strong, resilient and fearless woman. She faces her son’s hardship with strength and even defies her husband in attempts to save the family from ruin. Despite her husband beating her, Juana knows that she needs Kino in order to survive.
The doctor
The epitome of greed and materialism, he is a racist who refuses to treat Coyotito, claiming that he is a doctor not a veterinarian to be curing animals. Kino already foreshadows the doctor’s racism and greed stating that he is of a race that has oppressed and robbed his people for hundreds of years.
It is not clear if the doctor really did cure Coyotito or it was a trick to appear as if he did, but he further claimed he didn’t even know about the pearl and already intended to cure him. The doctor possesses an evil nature that the narrators speak of.
