Kink is an honest, honorable pearl diver who works hard to support his family. He is a simple man and lives in the traditional ways of his village. Kink is aware of his poverty and knows that money could buy things he lacks. He hopes to find a pearl that will guarantee him a safe. Kink is devoted to his family and when he is around them the song of the family plays in his head. This song represents his love for his wife and son. Kink is first encountered with a disaster when a poisonous scorpion bit his son, Coyote. He does not eave enough money to pay a doctor to make his son well again.
The doctor is not very kind towards Kink and the others who live in his village. Since Coyote cannot be treated for his illness this motivates Kink to try, even harder then usual, to find the pearl of the world. Kink discovers a great pearl and it changes his life forever. The man who usually hears the Song of the Family, the wonderful, soothing message that all is well in life, begins to hear the sounds of danger, the Song of Evil. Kink tries to sell his pearl so he could buy many great things with the money he received.
He wanted to buy a new harpoon, Winchester rifle, new clothes, new shoes, a new dress for Juan, and a wedding ceremony for Juan and himself, and most importantly pay for an education for Coyote. Juan is the loving mother of Coyote and the wife of Kink. She obeys her husband in most cases, but when she realizes that the pearl is only bringing trouble to her family, she urges him to throw it away. He refuses, and while he sleeps, she takes the pearl to the beach and is about to throw it in. When Kink catches her and beats her for taking the pearl.
After what Kink had done to her she still supported him, but she warned him of the danger the pearl can cause. Throughout The Pearl, Juan appears to be aware of what will save her family. Juan completes Kink; they both need each other’s strength and love. Without Juan Kink could not have overcome the dangers of the pearl. To all of the characters the pearl generally means the same for all of them: money. The greedy doctor refuses to see Kink’s baby when he is poor, once Kink found the pearl the doctor jumped right in to cure Jocosity’s illness.
He ride to trick Kink to see where Kink’s eyes went when they were talking about the pearl so that he could find it. The doctor even offered Kink a secure place to store the pearl in his very own safe. That very same night someone came to his hut to dig up the pearl, but Kink had already moved it. Kink stabbed the intruder and the intruder hit him in the head and then escaped. The intruder could have possibly been the doctor Even the town’s priest felt that Kink’s people were like children and only good for money.
When the priest heard the news that Kink had found the pearl of the world he too was citing kindly towards Kink. The priest hoped that Kink would share some money with the church, which meant the church getting repaired. He made a visit to Kink’s hut to talk to Kink about his duty to give part of his wealth to God, who created the pearl. The pearl buyers of the town acted as if they worked for themselves, but one man actually controlled them all. The competition of the pearl buyers was set up and made it easier to cheat the Indians.
They put on a show of competing over the best price, without anyone knowing the pearl buyer was doing gardening. Legerdemain is a kind of sleight of hand with a coin. They did that because Kink’s pearl was so impressive. They told Kink that the pearl was worth only a thousand pesos. The pearl was worth much more but they tried to trick Kink. He got angry and wanted to take the pearl to the capital. Kink also has an older brother, Juan Tomato, and a sister in-law, Apollonian. Juan Tomato tried to convince Kink to accept the pearl buyers offer but Kink did not.
Juan also believes that the pearl is worth more but is not sure, he keeps he family safe until they go off on their journey. Once they were headed to the capital they started to be tracked. Kink, Juan, and Coyote hid in a cave until the trackers fell asleep. Kink then went to attack them and Coyote cried and the trackers started shooting at Kink. In the crossfire one of the bullets hit Coyote and killed him. The pearl is also very important to the beggars of the town. They could use some extra money the most out of the whole town.
They are four men who know all of what happens in the town ranging from he smallest to the biggest of crimes. To the villagers the pearl means that they will not be cheated anymore. Kink would send Coyote to school to educate the villagers when they are being cheated. The pearl, from the poor villagers to the wealthy doctor, affected everyone. The pearl is a universal symbol of greed, jealousy, resentment, and instability. In The pearl, greed leads to tragedy in Kink’s loving family. All the characters are somehow affected by greed along the storyline. Not even Juan escapes the horrifying effects of greed.
