THE PEARL ANALYSIS KCSE 2021

KCSE PAST PAPERS REVISION – Review of KCSE 2021: The Pearl - John Steinbeck

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True friendship is hard to find. Many people associate with us for what they stand to gain. With reference to John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, write an essay to support this statement.

How to answer KCSE essay questions based on The Pearl.

1. Read the question carefully for comprehension/in order to understand the demands
2. Identify the keywords in the question with a view of interpreting the question correctly
3. Identify the FAKE FRIENDSHIPS and the OPPORTUNISM
4. Come up with points of interpretation. Who is the fake friend? How do they stand to gain?
5. Answer the question. Keep glancing at the question and the keywords in the course of your writing to avoid digressions and narration

Some of the KEYWORDS in this question include TRUE FRIENDSHIP, HARD TO FIND and GAIN.

Show how characters like the DOCTOR and the PRIEST get involved with KINO with a view of profiting from his priceless fortune, the pearl of the world. 

Show the distinct change in behaviour of the character based on how they behave before Kino gets the pearl and how they PRETEND to be his friends after he gets the pearl.

In each point, link the insincere association to how the character hopes to gain.

Why students lost marks in this question

Some students' essays lacked textual illustrations and background information. The examiner demanded illustration on how Kino's insincere friends associated with him BEFORE he got the pearl.

Students who had read and mastered the episodes garnered full marks per point. Always try to point out relevant specific details (characters’ actions, reactions, words, feelings) when reading the text.

For example how the doctor remarks that he has better things to do other than cure insect bites for “little Indians”. He is a doctor, not a veterinary. He asks his servant to see if Kino has any money. “No, they never have any money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing" (P28)

Show his change of heart when the news comes to him. Where is he and what is he doing? What does he say when he is told who Kino is?

When he is told who Kino is, the doctor grows “stern and judicious at the same time” and says, “He is a client of mine. I am treating his child for a scorpion sting"(P42)

How does he stand to gain? He wants the pearl. The things he says betray his avarice.

“When do you think you can pay this bill?”

“You have a pearl? A good pearl?”

“Perhaps, you would like me to put it in my safe?” (P56)

Use episodic approach.

Students who cited adequate specific textual details scored full marks.

TASKS

1. Identify the insincere/hypocritical friend
2. Give the BACKGROUND INFORMATION on how the character associated with Kino before he got the pearl. (Give sufficient textual backup)
3. Show how the character pretends to be Kino’s dependable/trustworthy friend AFTER he finds the pearl.
4. What does he stand to gain? (Textual evidence)
5. Show how the doctor, priest, pearl buyers, neighbours and beggars associate with Kino before and after he gets the pearl.

The Pearl Essay Analysis: How to write the introduction

1. What is your interpretation of the question? Show how true friends are hard to find. Who associates with Kino for selfish reasons?
2. Paraphrase: use your own words to demonstrate your understanding of the question. Avoid repeating the question word for word.
3. Include the keywords in your introduction. Link the “hypocritical friendship” to “what they stand to gain”
4. Contextualize: mention the disloyal friends e.g. doctor, priest, pearl buyers, neighbours or beggars.

Developing the body: The Pearl essay question KCSE 2021

1. Give at least four well illustrated points
2. Each point falls on a separate paragraph. Do not split one point into two paragraphs.
3. Give adequate textual illustrations on the insincere friendship. Show how the character behaved or treated Kino before he got the pearl. Then show how he pretends to be Kino's friend later on. Demonstrate that Kino gets many friends after he gets the pearl but the friendship is not in good faith. His new “friends” are dishonest. They plan to gain from his newly found fortune. Point out how each of them hopes to gain.

The first line of each (body) paragraph must answer the question.

• Who is the selfish friend?

• What do they stand to gain?

Points of interpretation

• Doctor
• Priest
• The pearl buyers
• Beggars
• Neighbours

Paragraph Development

• Using their knowledge or comprehension of the text, the student was required to fetch evidence from relevant episodes in order to answer the question.
• [Topic sentence] Fake friend: The PRIEST associates with Kino only because he hopes to profit from the pearl.
• Illustration: (P41, 47, 48, 68)
• The news comes to him when he is walking in his garden. It puts a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church.
• He wonders what the pearl would be worth
• He wonders whether he had baptized Kino’s baby or married him (P41)
• The priest considered these people children and treated them like children
• He tells Kino, “Kino, thou art named after a great man and a great Father of the Church.” He makes it sound like a benediction.
• He adds: “Thy namesake tamed the desert and sweetened the minds of thy people, didst thou know that? It is in the books.” (P47)
• He asks about the pearl, his sole purpose of visiting Kino: “It has cone to me that you have a great fortune, a great pearl.”
• The priest gasps a little at the size and the beauty of the pearl.
• He says, “I hope thou wilt remember to give thanks, my son, to Him who has given thee this treasure, and to pray for guidance in the future.”
• Juana replies softly “We will, Father. And we will be married now.”
• The priest is delighted. “It is pleasant to see that your first thoughts are good thoughts. God bless you, my children.”
• Kino's hand had closed tightly on the pearl again, and he was glancing about suspiciously (P48)
• Selling the pearls away from La Paz was a good idea but it was against religion.
• According to the priest, the loss of the pearls was a punishment
• Each man and woman is like a soldier sent by God to guard some part of the castle of the Universe.
• Each one must remain faithful to his post.
• The priest makes this sermon every year to discourage the fishermen from selling the pearls away from La Paz.

Sample set book essay question based on The Pearl by John Steinbeck

True friendship is hard to find. Many people associate with us for what they stand to gain. With reference to John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, write an essay to support this statement.

It is good to have friends. They are sources of inspiration, emotional and material support. Good friends would stick with you in the face of adversity while bad ones would forge relationships with the intention of exploiting us. In The Pearl, Kino is a victim of fake friendship. People who interact with him harbour malicious intentions. They are selfish and opportunistic.

First, the doctor is a pretentious friend who develops perfunctory concern for Kino only because he hopes to gain from his pearl. He is obviously not a genuine friend because at first he refuses to treat Kino's baby. He says he is a doctor, not a veterinary to treat insect bites for “little Indians”. He asks if Kino has any money and concludes that they never have any money. He is not willing to work for nothing. Kino has eight small misshapen ugly pearls, that are flattened and almost valueless. The doctor refuses to treat the baby. His servant claims he has gone out because he was called to a serious case. The doctor treats Kino with contempt and indifference before he gets the pearl. When he gets wind of Kino's pearl, the doctor grows stern and judicious at the same time. About Kino he says, “ He is a client of mine. I am treating his child for a scorpion sting.” He imagines himself in a restaurant in Paris enjoying some wine, probably using proceeds from the sale of the pearl. He visits Kino and pretends to show concern for his child. Lying that he was not in when Kino came in the morning, he says he has come at first chance. “I know the sting of a scorpion, my friend and I can cure it.” (P50) Kino reluctantly allows him to treat the child after he scares him about the curious effects of the sting. The doctor makes the baby’s condition worse in order to rip off Kino. He gives him some white powder enclosed in a capsule of gelatine. He gives him pulque to drink. This makes the baby very sick. The doctor is back after an hour and “treats” him using three drops of ammonia in a cup of water. He later inquires about the bill. Kino will pay after he sells his pearl. The doctor pretends to be oblivious about the pearl but offers to put it in his safe for him. He warns Kino that it may be stolen. He even stares at Kino’s eyes for a hint as to where it was hidden. Clearly, the doctor only associates with Kino to profit from the pearl. Surely, true friends are hard to find and most people only pursue selfish interests.

Secondly, the priest pretends to be Kino’s sincere friend only after he gets the pearl. He is walking in his garden when the news comes to him. It puts a thoughtful look in his eye and memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wonders about the worth of the pearl. He also develops dishonest concern for Kino’s family. He wonders whether he baptized Kino’s baby or married him for that matter. He then visits Kino’s family only because he hopes to benefit from his fortune. The priests tells Kino, “Thou art named after a great man and a great Father of the Church.” He makes it sound like a benediction. He adds that Kino’s namesake calmed the desert and sweetened the minds of his people. Kino is illiterate so the cunning priest slyly says, “It is in the books.” The priest considers Kino and his people children and treats them like children (P47). The priest inquires about the great fortune. He gasps a little at it's size and beauty. He tells Kino, his son, to remember to give thanks to God and to pray for guidance. He is pleased about their “good thoughts” when Juana says they will and they will now get married. The same priests makes a sermon every year to deter the poor fishermen from pooling their pearls and selling them at the capital, with a view of gaining from their hard work. The priest is a hypocritical friend who harbours an ulterior motive of profiting from Kino’s pearl. Indeed, it is hard to find genuine friends.

The pearl buyers are fake friends who appear genuinely friendly when they offer Kino the “best” prices but their hidden agenda is to cheat him out of his great pearl. In their little offices, they cackle and shout until they reach the lowest prices. When they hear about Kino’s pearl, their eyes squint and their fingers burn a little. They care less about the fisherman’s welfare. They are avaricious and selfish. There is only one buyer who keeps many agents to create a semblance of competition. The agents plan to replace their patron and each one hopes to raise the capital once he sells Kino’s pearl (P42-43). There is one buyer with many hands because the happiest pearl buyer is one who buys for the lowest prices (Pg64). The buyers become stiffened and alert when Kino and the procession approach their little dark offices. Kino is greeted by a stout slow man, “Good morning, my friend.” His face is fatherly and benign, and his eyes twinkle with friendship. He is a caller of good-mornings, a ceremonious shaker of hands, a jolly man who knew all jokes but whose eyes would wet with sorrow at the memory of your aunt’s demise. He gives Kino a steady cruel gaze, eyes unwinking as a hawk, but the rest of his face smiling in greeting. As much as he appears amiable, his true colours show when he tells Kino his pearl is fool's gold – a large clumsy curiosity that no one would buy and only good for a museum. For a pearl Kino thinks is 50,000 pesos, the dealer offers a measly 1000 pesos. He pretends there is no collusion with his fellow conniving conspirators. The first dealer, a dry stringy man, tosses the pearl contemptuously back into the tray. Refusing to make an offer, he calls it a monstrosity. The second one, a little man with a shy voice, claims better pearls are made of paste. Kino’s pearl is soft and chalky and will die soon. He examines it under a microscope. The third dealer says he could sell it at 600 pesos to a client who likes such things. He offers 500 pesos. The friendly dealer raises his offer to 1500 pesos. Kino refuses to sell his pearl there after seeing through their lies. He realizes they are not genuine friends. The dealers know they played too hard. They pretend to give Kino the best prices yet they had conspired to buy his pearl at the lowest price. Truly, it is not easy to find true friendship.

Also, the four beggars follow Kino around only because of the hope they harbour in Kino's pearl. They seem interested in Kino yet before they saw him and Juana as poor people. The great experts in financial analysis look at Juana's old blue skirt, green ribbon, torn shawl, Kino’s aged blanket and the thousand washings of his blanket and dismiss them as poor people. The only reason they follow him to the doctor’s place is to witness the drama that would ensue. After that, they go back to the steps of the church, indifferent to his plight (Pg28). However, when they hear about Kino’s pearl, they know they would benefit from it. They giggle with pleasure for they know that there is no alms giver in the world like a poor man who is suddenly lucky (Pg42). Since they sit in front of the church, the beggars hope to gain from the pearl by taking the tithe of the first fruit of the luck (Pg63). The beggars join the procession to the buyers not as Kino’s friends, but as vultures hoping to gain from the sale of the pearl. Without doubt, many people only associate with us for what they stand to gain.

Kino's neighbours are not honest friends but casual opportunists hoping to profit from his fortune. They follow Kino and Juana to the doctor's house. The thing had become a neighbourhood affair (Pg24). They follow him only to witness if Kino would do the remarkable by getting the doctor. They are not here to help him. They hang around Kino’s home till dusk and are reluctant to leave. The neighbours watch Kino through the crevices of their houses and dress up to accompany him - if they don’t go it would be a sign of “unfriendship”. They accompany Kino to sell the pearl, together with their little boys, peering around the doorway, window bars and around Kino’s legs (Pg71). The neighbours pretend to be Kino’s friends but they are only spying on him with the aim of getting the pearl. Kino is attacked at the beach by someone from the neighbourhood (Pg84-86). His bought is also destroyed causing him searing rage. This is evil beyond thinking (Pg 87). As if that is not enough, someone burns Kino’s house. The seemingly friendly neighbours are out to get Kino’s pearl by any means. As Kino’s house goes up in flames, all they do is save their own houses (Pg88). Juan Tomas warns Kino not to use the shore since there was a search party there looking for him. The neighbours that were initially uninterested in Kino’s affairs before now try to wrestle the pearl out of Kino’s grasp. This goes to prove that true friendship is indeed hard to find.

In conclusion, many people display questionable closeness with Kino’s family which can only be explained in the light of selfishness and opportunism. This friendship is aimed at benefitting them and not Kino and Juana. Not all our friends have benevolent reasons.

Read more on The Pearl KCSE Essays here 

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