Esprit Joaillerie takes you on a journey through Mexico, searching for a pearl.
To begin this journey, we turn to John Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl. It should be emphasized that this gem is special. In fact, it is the one that attracts at first glance by its clarity, purity and mystery. In fact, it is a The pearl of the world.
Thus, this short story presents itself as a moral tale passed down from generation to generation among Mexican sinners. So, we enter the story of a couple of poor Mexican sinners who will discover the horrors of wealth.
« In the city, the story of a big pearl is told – how it was found, then lost again; the story of Kino, the fisherman, of his wife Juana and their baby Coyotito. And as the story has been told so often, it is rooted in everyone’s memory. But, like the old tales that remain in the hearts of men, there is no longer any middle ground; only good and evil, black and white, grace and maleficence – with no intermediate shades.«
In order to find the money to treat their son, the little Coyotito, who has just been stung by a scorpion, Kino and Juana decide to take their small boat to go in search of a beautiful woman. pearl. Indeed, they find a beautiful one. Kino sees in it a pearl the mirror of future wealth.
«Using his blade like a lever, he forced it to yield and the shell opened. The flesh-colored lips twitched then relaxed. Kino lifted the fold and the pearl was there, the big pearl, perfect as the moon. It caught the light, purified it and sent it back into a silvery glow. It was as big as a seagull’s egg. It was the biggest pearl in the world.« (…)
Soon, passions will run wild. The couple will have to fight off the greed and jealousy of others as well as their own demons.
« Each buyer was supposed to act on his own behalf and compete with his competitors in the auctions for the pearls brought by the fishermen. And there was a time when it was so. But that was a period of waste, because it sometimes happened that, in the heat of the auctions for obtaining a beautiful pearl, enormous sums were offered to the fishermen; an extravagance that should not be encouraged. Now there was only one buyer with many subordinates, and the men who, in their offices, waited for Kino all knew what price they would offer, how high they would go, and what method each of them would employ. And although this purchase would bring these men nothing more than their usual salary, the excitement nevertheless seized all the pearl buyers, for every hunt brings an emotion, and if a man’s task is to lower a price, then he must find pleasure and satisfaction in lowering it as much as possible.»
To put it simply, this very poetic narrative is based on the symbolism of the pearl that hypnotizes, seduces, and destroys. For this pearl emits a special music. It is the song of the family when Kino sees in the pearl a better future (the school for his son, the departure to the city). Then the evil song when the pearl awakens the evil in the village that wants to steal the pearl from him.
Finally, John Steinbeck describes the changes in the soul of Kino who is ready to turn into a murderer to keep The pearl magical.
«When they were at the edge of the water, they stopped and looked away over the Gulf. Then Kino put his rifles down on the ground, searched his clothes, and suddenly the pearl appeared in his fingers. He examined the surface of it and it appeared to him gray and unhealthy. Damned faces appeared there, faces that fixed him. He saw the glow of a rifle shot. He saw the man’s pleading eyes from the sea. He saw Coyotito lying in the small cave, his skull torn by the shot. And the pearl was horrible, gray like a malignant outgrowth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, dissonant and crazy. His hand trembled slightly when he turned to Juana to offer it to her? Standing beside him, she always carried her burden of death on her shoulder. For a moment, she considered the pearl in Kino’s hand, then looked him straight in the eyes and said softly:
-No, not you…
And Kino, raising his arm very high, threw the pearl with all his might. Kino and Juana watched as it described its flashing and sparkling trajectory in the setting sun. They saw the small splash in the distance and, side by side, they contemplated the place where she had disappeared. And the pearl sank to the bottom, into the green and sweet water.»
In short, this book is fascinating. Steinbeck describes with great skill the turmoil of the human soul. Thus, jealousy, greed, but also dreams of success are reflected in an incredible way. pearl.
