JUANA IS THE VOICE OF REASON IN THE PEARL

Juana is portrayed as a voice of reason in The Pearl. Her steadfast spirit makes her a pillar of strength to her family members. Although the society in La Paz is mainly patriarchal, Juana asserts herself as a sagacious and perceptive woman. As much as she is acquiescent and subservient, she makes judicious decisions and gives Kino wise counsel. She perseveres through many difficulties but sticks together with Kino and gives the family strength both in good and bad times.

 

The scorpion sting

We first experience Juana’s grit and wit when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. She sucks the poison from the red puncture while Kino is busy killing the scorpion.

“She put her lips down over the puncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again while Coyotito screamed” (pg. 22)

She sucked until the little hole enlarged and its edges whitened. She acts instinctively because she knows that a baby could easy die from the poison.

“First they knew, would come the swelling and fever and tightened throat, and then cramps in the stomach and then Coyotito might die…” (pg. 23)

The sucking helps ease Coyotito's stinging pain since his screams turn into moans.

She also uses an ingenious method to relieve the baby’s pain when they go fishing for pearls with Kino. She gathers some brown seaweed and makes a flat damp poultice which she applies to the baby’s swollen shoulder. We are told that it “was as good a remedy as any and probably better than the doctor could have done” (pg. 33)

Perhaps Juana could have sucked out the poison in time since the stomach cramps had not come to Coyotito (pg. 33)

Finally the poison recedes from his body and the swelling  was going out of his shoulder. (pg. 38)

Juana saves Coyotito’s life through her timely shrewd actions.

The Doctor

“Kino had wondered often at the iron in his patient fragile wife. She who was obedient and respectful and cheerful and patient could arc her back in child pain with hardly a cry. She could stand fatigue and hunger almost better than Kino himself. In the canoe she was strong like a man.”

She surprises Kino and the neighbours when she demands that they go to get the doctor (pg. 23). The dwellers of the brush houses know that it is wonderful to want the doctor but it would be remarkable to get him. He never comes to the cluster of brush houses. He prefers attending to rich people who live in stone and plaster houses of the town. (pg. 23)

When the people in the yard, the people at the door and Kino say that the doctor would not come, she looks at him her eyes as cold as the eyes of a lioness.

“This was Juana’s first baby-this was nearly everything there was in Juana’s world” (pg. 23-24)

Even Kino sees the determination in her. The music of the family sounds in his head with a steely tone.

She declares that they will go to the doctor (pg. 24). She covers the baby with a dark-blue shawl to protect him from the light. (pg. 24)

When the doctor refuses to treat Coyotito everyone else leaves save for Juana who stands beside Kino for a long time. (pg. 29)

The “evil” pearl

When a thief sneaks into Kino’s hut with the intention of stealing the pearl, Juana warns him. Kino hurts his head while trying to fight the intruder.

“Kino could feel warm blood running down from his forehead.”

Juana is worried. She lights a candle goes out and dips the end of her head shawl in water and swabs the blood from Kino’s bruised forehead.

Juana is seen as a voice of reason when she wisely advises Kino to get rid of the pearl.

“This thing is evil” she cried harshly, “This pearl is like a sin, it will destroy us”. (pg. 59)

She asks Kino to throw it away or break it between stones, bury it or throw it back into the sea. Juana is worried that the pearl will destroy the family including their son Coyotito. Kino insists that their son must go to school and the pearl is his only hope. (pg. 60)

Kino intends to sell the pearl and pursue his dreams. When the dealers give him a raw deal he decides to keep the pearl to sell it later at the capital. Juana is worried but she remains supportive.

“Juana watched him with worry, but she knew him and she knew she could help him best by being silent and by being near.”

She also “fights evil” by singing softly the melody of the family “of the safety and warmth and wholeness of the family” (pg. 75)

When Kino senses an intruder walking outside his hut, Juana tries to protect him by stopping him from going out. (pg. 78)

Kino struggles with the attacker and Juana grabs a stone and reaches out to help her husband. He has been slashed badly by the attacker.

She assists him back to the house. He is bleeding. She wipes his face with her skirt. She offers him some pulque to drink. (pg. 79)

Juana reiterates that the pearl is evil and should be destroyed.

“Kino this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us.” (79-80)

Kino insists that he is a man. He claims he’ll fight and win. Juana tells Kino astutely than a man can be killed (pg. 80). She insists that they should throw the pearl back into the sea.

It is evident that Juana is right all along. The pearl causes a strain in their marriage. Due to Kino’s inaction, Juana decides to throw the pearl herself albeit secretly. Kino catches her just in time and strikes her in the face with a clenched fist and kicks her in the side. He hisses at her like a snake, but she stares at him with wide unfrightened eyes like a sheep before slaughter.

Even after the attack, Juana remains rational. There is no anger in her for Kino. She knows that she needs Kino who she feels is half good and half insane.

“Sometimes the quality of woman, the reason, the caution the sense of preservation could cut through Kino’s manness and save them all” (pg. 85)

The journey north

When Juana realizes that Kino has killed a man, she knows the old peace is gone. The old life she was trying to rescue is gone.

“There was nothing to do but to save themselves” (pg. 56)

She tells Kino that he has killed a man and people will come for them. Therefore, they must leave before daylight. Kino says he did it in self-defense but Juana warns that the men of the city won’t buy his explanation. Kino concedes that she is right. (pg. 86)

Juana accompanies Kino on the journey north. The trek is tedious but Juana’s mettle gives Kino a lot of steadfastness and pluck.

“And Kino could hear the pad of Juana’s feet behind him” (pg. 45)

Juana shifts Coyotito to the front whenever he awakes and she sooths him to sleep. They walk all night with out changing their pace.

Juana’s mouth was still swollen where Kino struck her but she resiliently sits still like a sentinel (guard/guardian) watching her baby. (pg. 99)

She’s clearly a voice of reason when she discourages Kino from capitulation and allowing the trackers to take him. She knows they would kill then.

“Do you think they would let me live? Do you think they will let the little one here live?”

Kino finally yields to her goading.

The journey north is surely racking but Juana is unflinching in her bid to protect her family. Her ankles are cut and scratched from stones and brush.

Juana’s prudence is evident when he dissuades Kino from splitting up with them when he suggests that she and the baby go north Loreto or to Santa Rosalia.   

“He looked then, for weakness in her face, for fear or irresolution and there was none… he had taken strength from her” (pg. 105). Juana is indeed the tower of strength in Kino’s family.

Juana advises Kino to remove his white clothes since he could be seen easily. (pg.111)

When Coyotito is killed, Juana and Kino return to La Paz walking side by side. Juana remains by Kino’s side up to the bitter end.

Juana was right all along. The pearl indeed destroys the family. They lose their hut, their boat, their old peace and their son. Her steadfast spirit gives the family strength from start to finish.

If only Kino had listened to her.

Next: The Pearl Essays