The Pearl by John Steinbeck

How do Kino and Juana suffer through the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope, with which humanity, if it wise, must learn to live?

Kino and Juana suffer through this paradox all throughout the story. The idea that "evil comes out of good" starts on page 30 when Kino finds the pearl, "Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon." When Kino finds the pearl and brings it home, he begins planning what they're going to use the pearl for: a wedding in a church, new clothes, a harpoon, a rifle, and a proper education for their son, Coyotito. At first, the pearl seems like a great thing that will help make their lives better, but that quickly changes when they realize the negative effects a simple pearl can have on their lives. Men attempt to steal the pearl during the night, Kino and Juana's house is burnt down, the pearl buyers and the doctor try to rip them off in a sense, Kino abuses Juana, the family must run away from their home, and above all, people lose their lives because of this "great" pearl.

"The tear at the heart of laughter" is best represented on page 10: "Kino's hand went forward very slowly, very smoothly. The thorned tail jerked upright. And at that moment the laughing Coyotito shook the rope and the scorpion fell."  Everything was normal and pleasant until the baby is stung by the scorpion, which is literally the tear at the heart of laughter. "The dream doomed to disappointment in the moment of dreaming" strongly relates to this story. As soon as they find the pearl, Kino dreams of all of the possibilities it will bring to his family. The end of the story actually brings a rather ironic twist to these dreams. Firstly, Kino dreams that Coyotito will go to school and get a proper education, but Coyotito is killed because of the pearl. Secondly, the point I find most ironic, Kino says that he will have a rifle, which breaks down the barriers, and in the end he does get a rifle, but it is the rifle that was responsible for his son's death. Kino and Juana  searching for a pearl at the beginning of the book shows the "despair conjoined with hope". The couple are desperately searching and hoping for a pearl so they can pay the doctor to save their son.

I feel that Kino and Juana didn't necessarily learn how to live with the paradox, but they learned how to accept the paradox, which is almost living with it. I think they have also learned to be careful about what they refuse to let go of. Kino was determined to keep the pearl- he hit Juana for trying to throw it away- but because of that, he lost a lot. On page 30, the author describes the initial reaction to the pearl as, "Juana caught her breath and moaned a little. And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant. In the surface of the great pearl he could see dreams form." At the end of the book, on page 121, the pearl becomes something different. "He looked into its surface and it was gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peered from it into his eyes, and he saw the light of burning. And in the surface of the pearl saw the frantic eyes of the man in the pool. And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane." Throughout the story, the pearl goes from beautiful and perfect, to evil, ugly, and gray, like a malignant growth. If Kino hadn't held onto the pearl so strongly, his life would've remained the same as it was before.

When a character acts selflessly against the prevailing vice(s) of the social dominant order, true virtue exhibits itself.

In this book, I don't feel that the character's actions are all that selfless, because the pearl brings out the selfish side of almost every character. On the other hand, Juana and Kino both initially find the pearl to save their son. When their son starts to recover without the doctor, Kino starts thinking of things that he wants. While these things can benefit him and his family, there are more selfless ways to use the money the pearl would bring him.

There actions do, however, exhibit a form of virtue. They exhibit the four cardinal virtues of Ancient Philosophy: justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. Justice is displayed in this story by Kino and his family getting what they deserve for the lives they lived prior to finding the pearl and getting what the deserve for their actions after finding the pearl. Prudence is illustrated through Kino's regard for his own interests and the interests of his family. Temperance, which can be defined as "moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control", is shown through Kino denying to sell the pearl to the pearl buyers, even though  it would have provided his family with money. Fortitude is a very prominent is The Pearl. Both Kino and Juana show extreme mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, and temptation.

Overall, even though I don't think that there are many selfless acts in this book, the actions taken by the characters do result in true virtue exhibiting itself.

Anthem by Ayn Rand

The ideal that a man's "pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life" is realized in this story through the journey of Equality 7-2521. His journey also validates the statement that when a character acts selfishly against the prevailing vice(s) of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself.

In this story, the dominant social order imposes a strong sense of brotherhood, and "we" instead of "I". In fact, the word "I" isn't even used in the book until page 108. Acts of independence, such as the ones committed by Equality 7-2521, are "regarded as a treacherous blasphemy", as stated on the very first page of the book, and are punishable by death. Despite these heavily enforced rules, Equality 7-2521 is defiant. He acts selfishly when he finds the tunnel and makes International 4-8818 keep it a secret, he acts selfishly when he keeps his discoveries in the tunnel a secret, he acts selfishly when he talks to the Golden One. These selfish acts have negative impacts on him throughout the story, such as him being tortured and having to escape to the Uncharted Forest.

However, everything he does, he does to help his brothers, as he says on pages 64-65, "Then we thought of the meaning of what lay before us. We can light our tunnel, and the City, and all the Cities of the world with nothing save metal and wires. We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and brighter than any they have ever known. The power of the sky can be made to do men's bidding." Equality 7-2521 risks his safety to share his new light with the Council of Scholars to help make everyone's lives easier and better. His actions show virtue as he is doing what he thinks is the right thing to do.

Equality 7-2521 also shows virtue in his hopes for the future after he runs to the Uncharted Forest. On page 122, he says of his new home, "And all my brothers, and the Councils of my brothers, will hear of it, but they will be impotent against me. And the day will come when I shall break the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake. For the coming of that day I shall fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor."

He has plans to break down the prevailing vices of the dominant social order that conceals the secrets of the Unmentionable Times and oppresses the idea of individualism.

The Call to Adventure

Ellie Linton's call to adventure occurs when her and six of her friends return home from a week long camping trip to a large, vegetated sinkhole known as "Hell." During the camping trip the group sees a large number of military planes flying through the night without lights on. They talk about it the next morning, but don't think it's of much importance. When they return they find that all the people are missing and their pets and livestock are dead or dying. Fearing the worst, they break into three groups to investigate Wirrawee's situation. They confirm that Australia (or at least, Wirrawee) has been invaded and local citizens are being held captive by the occupying force. 

"In the house nothing was wrong, and that was what was wrong. There was no sign of life at all. Everything was neat and tidy. At that time of day there should have been food spread out on the kitchen table, there should have been dishes in the sink, the TV should have been chattering in the background. But all was silent." (Marsden 56)

The Ordinary World

In the book Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden, the protagonist is Ellie Linton. Ellie's ordinary world is her home. She was born and raised on a cattle and sheep farm not far from the edge of the country town of Wirrawee, Australia. She lives a simple life in the country and she loves it. There is no place in the world that she would rather be.

I chose this image because it shows what Ellie's ordinary world is like. A normal, small, rural town.

"But in spite of our isolation, our unglamourous life, I loved being a rural. Other kids couldn’t wait to get away to the city. It was like, the moment they finished school they’d be at the bus depot with their bags packed. They wanted crowds and noise and fast food stores and huge shopping centres. They wanted adrenaline pumping through their veins. I liked those things, in small doses, and I knew that in my life I’d like to spend good lengths of time in the city. But I always knew where I most liked to be and that was out here, even if I did spend half my life headfirst in a tractor engine, or pulling a lamb out of a barbed-wire fence, or getting kicked black and blue by a heifer when I got between her and her calf.” (Marsden 78)

Free Choice

The book that I am currently reading is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. The big question that I have for this book is, Why is it so important to Mr. Bennett that his five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia, are trained in the deadly arts (killing zombies)?

I understand that he wants his daughters to be able to protect themselves, but to him it's more important that they can kill zombies than it is that they're happy. The girls are looked down upon by many important people due to the fact that their first instinct is always to kill. They don't really care much about how they look or act around anybody because their father taught them that it isn't as important as fighting.

"Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head, which exploded in a cloud of brittle skin and bone." (Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies page 28)

Character Archetypes

In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the character Lucy Westenra shows characteristics of the threshold guardian archetype. Lucy becomes ill and Abraham Van Helsing has to figure out what's wrong with her. It's only after he realizes what's making her ill that he’ll have the chance to face Count Dracula.

‘Van Helsing and I were shown up to Lucy's room. She was ghastly, chalkily pale. The red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face stood out prominently. Her breathing was painful to see or hear. Van Helsing's face grew set as marble, and his eyebrows converged till they almost touched over his nose. Lucy lay motionless, and did not seem to have strength to speak, so for a while we were all silent. Then Van Helsing beckoned to me, and we went gently out of the room."My god!" he said. "This is dreadful. There is not time to be lost. She will die for sheer want of blood to keep the heart's action as it should be. There must be a transfusion of blood at once.”’ (Bram Stoker, Dracula pages 158-159)

‘Just over the external jugular vein there were two punctures, not large, but not wholesome looking. There was no sign of disease, but the edges were white and worn looking, as if by some trituration. It at once occurred to me that this wound, or whatever it was, might be the means of that manifest loss of blood.’ (Bram Stoker, Dracula page 163)

Popular?

To me, a classic is something that is never truly forgotten. In order for a book to be a classic, it doesn't always have to be about something that everyone knows about. Sometimes, the books that are considered classics are on topics that very few people knew anything about before the book was read, but other times, the things that are remembered for the longest amount of time are things that people are familiar with.

Right now I'm reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, which is actually one of the books in the Scholastic Classics collection. This book is a classic because when it was published in 1897, vampires weren't a hugely popular topic. People were curious as to who exactly Count Dracula was, so they read the book. The book was written with journal and diary entries, and letters from multiple different characters, giving the reader the story from more than one perspective. This way of writing isn't the most common style, so it's interesting to read. Future generations of students should read this book because over time, the image of the vampire has changed drastically, into something completely different then what it was originally. Modern vampires are showed as being just like regular people. They can blend in with everybody else. Future generations should read this book to get a sense of what a vampire is meant to be like.