The Pearl // part two

I can see how the pearl could have been seen as unique, if not odd, but 'a monstrosity' is not something that I saw coming. I guess the rejection by the pearl buyers foreshadows the coming events leading up to the end of the story. For now, Kino and Juana are on their way to the capital to find a better offer for the pearl.

One thing that sticks in my mind is how the attackers the Kino fights off multiple times during the nights are never described or revealed at all. A struggle, cuts and scrapes, but never a face or a name for the reader. In the beginning of the story, few could have seen the real cost of the pearl, and how little wealth it would really bring. Funny how when everything is good, it's difficult to seriously consider all of the thing that could go wrong. These things are cloaked in the shadows of foresight, much like the attackers in the night that can never be truly known.

It's still tough to explain, but I would connect the ending to John Green's Looking For Alaska, where it is often asked [spoiler alert] for the sake of the story, did Alaska really have to die? While this story is much simper, the question is still the same: did Coyotito really have to die in the end, even if by totally unforeseen circumstances? is it fate, sealed when Kino discovered the pearl?

Simply put, I see two main points to the story: First, riches and fortune will always come at a high (and often unforeseen) cost. Second, in hindsight, the loss of a family is far greater and more deeply mourned than that of a fortune.

Well, there goes my night.

[pages 47-101]