The Pearl

== plot summary ==

A man named Kino and his family are living in La Paz in Mexico. Kino, his wife Juana and son coyotito are living in poverty. Kino is a pearl diver. One day Kinos son coyotito gets stung by a scorpion but they do not have enough money to get him treated at the hospital so Kino dives into a lake to try to find a pearl so they can get Coyotito treated. Kino finds a massive pearl. After he finds the massive pearl everybody starts to try to trick Kino into giving them the pearl. When the doctor finds out about Kino's pearl he goes to treat coyotito. Even though juana mad a remedy that cured Coyotito the doctor still says that coyotito will die if he doesn't get treatment. Kino wants to go to another town to sell the pearl for a fair price but his brother Juan Thomas thinks the idea is foolish. Kino is on his own. Juana tells Kino that the Pearl is destroying the family but kino wont throw it away. Then Juana tries to throw away the pearl but kino stops her then beats her. On his way back to their hut, Kino is attacked and he kills the man in self-defense. Juana goes to gather their things and escape and finds the floor of their hut completely dug up. While she's inside the hut getting the baby, someone lights it on fire.

Kino, Juana, and Coyotito hide with Kino's brother for a day before embarking on their journey to a new city under the cover of darkness. While they are resting during the day, Kino discovers that there are trackers following them. He knows that they will steal the pearl and kill his family if they catch them. To escape, Kino and Juana take the baby and run to the mountains where they hide in a cave at nightfall. The trackers camp just below the ridge where they are hiding. Kino sneaks down in the night to kill the trackers, but before he can attack them, Coyotito cries out. The trackers, thinking it's a coyote, shoot at the dark cave where Juana and Coyotito are hiding. As the shot is fired, Kino springs on the trackers and kills them all. Unfortunately, Coyotito was killed by the first gunshot, and Kino's journey with the pearl ends in tragedy.

Realizing that the pearl is cursed and has destroyed his family (as Juana forewarned), Kino and Juana return to La Paz and throw the cursed pearl into the sea.

Characters
Apolonia

She is the wife of Juan Thomas.

Coyotito

the son of Kino and Juana

Juana

Kinos wife

Juan Thomas

Apolonia's husband and Kino's brother  Kino

main character

Setting
The Pearl is set in and around La Paz, Mexico, a coastal town marked by economic, social, and racial divisions.