The Pearl is Steinbeck's flawless parable about wealth and the evil it can bring. When Kino, an Indian pearl diver, finds the pearl of the world, he believes that his life will magically change. He will marry Juana in the church, and their little son, Coyotito, will be able to go to school. Obsessed with his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed, fear, and even violence that the pearl evokes in him and his neighbors. Uncanny and lyrical, The Pearl contrasts the values of the civilized world with those of the primitive, finding them tragically inadequate.