Introduction

Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are both novellas by author John Steinbeck from mid 20th century that explore many intriguing themes and symbols. Both have simple yet complex characters and plots, and show remote and secluded locations, all in under 150 pages. The stories told in those concise pages portray events that very well could have happened in the timeframe that the fictional events take place in.

Characters

The number of important characters in The Pearl is smaller than in Of Mice and Men. It mostly focuses on Kino’s character and his eventual corruption and downfall. Of Mice and Men has many more memorable, important and more developed characters than those in The Pearl. Nearly every character in Of Mice and Men is important to the overall story and the same is echoed it The Pearl. Although there are less characters in it, most are crucial or at least affect the plot in some way.

The Pearl

The main character of The Pearl is Kino, a native Mexican pearl driver whose wife, Juana, and son Coyotito round main characters. On the periphery, there is Juan Tomas, Kino’s brother along with his wife Apolina, and the town doctor. Technically there are the pearl buyers, beggars, trackers, and dark attacking figures but they are given even less characterization than the previous set, which isn’t much at all. There are less important characters in The Pearl than in Of Mice and Men. It mostly focuses on Kino’s character and his eventual corruption and downfall

Of Mice and Men

The main characters of Of Mice and Men are George Milton and Lennie Small, an iconic duo of a seemingly normal man and his loyal disabled compatriot who stuck together in the worst of the Great Depression. There’s also Candy, an old man on the ranch with a missing hand who joins in in George and Lennie’s plan, and Slim, the best ranch hand there, and the boss's favorite . Curley and his unnamed wife also play key roles, the latter more so, and are the catalysts for almost all of the trouble that occurs in the story. Crooks, the only African American there doesn't get much to do but is an example of subjugation on the ranch. The Boss, Carlson, and a few others have some lines of dialogue here and there but not enough to write about. Of Mice and Men has many more memorable, important and in my opinion better characters than those in The Pearl

Plot

The plots to Of Mice and Men and The Pearl differ in various aspects, but are similar in others. They have to do with an unknown variable entering an equation and changing the expected outcome for the worse. Both involve great loss and death but how and why we get to to those points vary drastically.

The Pearl

Kino listens to the waves while his wife, Juana cooks and their son Coyotito sleeps. A scorpion is on the rope that holds up the crib Coyotito and stings him. Followed by townsfolk, they run to the town doctor but he rejects them because they have no money. Kino and Juana go out to search for a pearl to pay the doctor. Kino dives and find a huge clam that holds "the pearl of the world". News travels quickly and everyone has their own dreams about the pearl. Kino and Juana see marriage, a rifle, and their son's education . As soon as Kino says he's going to sell the pear, the doctor treats Coyotito .That night, an intruder breaks in and attacks Kino, but Kino is injured and he gets away. People crowd around their hut while wondering what they'd spend it on while Juan tells him they'll cheat him. The buyers offer prices in descending value until Kino rejects all 3. That night, he is attacked and Juana finds him bleeding in the doorstep. Juana tries to throw the pearl into the ocean by Kino hits her. Kino killed an attacker and try to leave town. Their canoe is broken and house burning, and hide with Juan Tomas. They head north but cover their tracks because they're being followed. They hide from the trackers in a cave by a lake and Kino tries to kill them when Coyotito lets out a cry and a shot is fired. Coyotito was shot and later the couple walk through town and thrown the pearl into the ocean

Of Mice and Men

George and Lennie arrive at a riverbank on their way to a ranch for work near Soledad , California. Lennie, who has mental disabilities, kept a mouse in his pocket because he likes to pet soft things, and killed it. George tells George about the rabbits and to come back to this spot if anything bad happens. At the ranch, they meet Candy and the boss. The boss's son Curley comes in looking for a fight with Lennie but Georges stops it before anything happens. His unnamed wife and Slim come in. George explains that he knew George's aunt & he used to tease Lennie but he was loyal to him and they stayed together after she died. Carlson convinces Candy to take his old smelly dog out behind the woodshed. Candy joins in on the farm dream and Curley starts a fight with Lennie who crushes his hand once george tells him to. Lennie and then Candy go into Crooks room, telling him about the dream farm but he thinks they’re fools. When Curley’s wife comes in Crooks says that they left all the weak ones here. Lennie is in the barn, sorry over the fact that he killed his puppy when Curley’s wife comes in. They have a nice moment talking about their pasts when things go wrong and Lennie doesn’t let go of her hair leading to him snapping her neck. Candy sees the aftermath, getting George who says he’ll have to take care of it and heads toward the river. Lennis sits on the bank and has vision of Aunt Clara and a Rabbit telling him to leave when George gets there. He Talks him down, telling him about the rabbits when he shoots him. The rest of the crew join and celebrate but Slim tells George that he had to do it.

Settings

Both are set in the State of California, Of Mice and Men in the American state and The Pearl taking place in the Mexican state of Baja California. The timeframe is during the 1920s and 1930s, periods of peace and hardship respectively. Small areas of isolated, backwater towns are where the main events happen. The history of the town from The Pearl,La Paz, is explained in detail but we don’t know much about Soledad other than it has at least two brothels and a police station.

The Pearl

The main events of The Pearl takes place on the Baja peninsula in Mexico, more specifically the peaceful small town of La Paz (la paz literally means peace in Spanish). It is a remnant of the old colonial spanish rule of the 14th to 19th centuries, most prominently displayed in its pearl buying and selling business. Kino’s hut is in the fishing village by the coast, near his brothers house. Most of the poor natives dive for precious pearls to sell to buyers in the city. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito on their trek toward a larger town go through jungles and mountains, eventually reaching a cave where the final confrontation between the family and the tackers takes place, ultimately ending in Coyotito’s end. Kino and Juana’s canoe is located on the beach, where the story starts and where it ends.

Of Mice and Men

The primary setting of Of Mice and Men is an area near Soledad, Monterey County, in California. The locations we visit there are a bank of the Salinas River and a ranch in the Salinas Valley. Some important areas to the story are the bunkhouse , Crooks room, and the barn. There is a flashback to George and Lennie leaving Weed, California but it is brief. The story begins and ends on the banks of the Salinas River, the place where George tells Lennie to go if anything goes wrong.

Symbolism

Both novellas have their fair share of symbols, some more evident than others. Sometimes they're in the title of the book, and sometimes they're in the name of a character. Tropes are often used as a method to simplify the story but add greater meaning to the symbolism.

The Pearl

There are many symbols in The Pearl, some of them being the rifle, a coyote, the Pearl. The rifle symbolises Kino’s desire to protect his family by whatever means necessary but eventually it causes the downfall of his family, specifically Coyotito, who’s killed by the tracker’s rifle. The trackers think that they hear a coyote and they shoot at it, but it was a cry that Coyotito let out and that’s what killed him. Coyotito's name a literally means little coyote in spanish as as well. The pearls is the classic trope that something beautiful and coveted corrupts someone. This happens to Kino very similarly to how it happens to Smeagol and his turn into Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He even finds it in the water while in a boat.

Of Mice and Men

Most of the symbols in Of Mice and Men deal directly with Lennie. He likes small and soft things but ultimately causes them harm to varying degrees. Lennie is brute force and even though he loves these things, he can’t control how he treats them. He goes to far or loves to much. Multiple characters on the ranch have disabilities. Lennie has mental disabilities, Crooks has a messed up back, Candy has an amputated hand, and Curley gets his hand crushed, injuring it.

Themes

The various themes in Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are nothing new in a literary sense, you've either read, heard, or watched them a thousand times. What differs them is the way they are presented and the context they're in. Loss is a theme the works have in common, but what is loss and how is makes them stick with you for the rest of you life.

The Pearl

Two of the themes in The Pearl are corruption and fate. Kino is a poor diver just wants the best for his family and when tragedy strikes and he finds wealth he stays that way for a little bit. His visions for his family’s future are noble at first and then he wants a rifle, which he knows can cause great loss. Once he is attacked, he tries to keep the pearl protected and refuses to sell it for a reasonable amount. He is attacked again but this time he kills two of the attackers and then beats his wife once she tries to get rid of it. He is more harsh and mean to people and plans to kill the trackers to keep his family safe. Inevitably, the weapon that he desires the most kills his son,giving him a realization that Juana was right, it is a curse. This mirrors the Frodo Baggins journey with the One Ring. He goes down a dark path but then he sees what he’d become if he kept it when Gollum falls into Mt. Doom because of the rings power of corruption

Of Mice and Men

Some of the many themes in of Mice and Men are Isolation and small things being crushed. Nearly every character is lonely, isolated, or has no family. Even the two married characters, Curley and his wife don’t like each other and she married him only because she couldn't get a hollywood guy. Candy, Slim, and Crooks have no one until George and Lennie come to the ranch. They are the only characters that have any sort of relationship at the start and that causes trouble. Lennie likes soft things and those soft things often end up being small and fragile. The mouse, puppy, girls dress, and Curley’s wife are all touched by lennie and none of them end up well. This could be representative of the how everyday people were affected by the Stock Market Crash and the subsequent Great Depression. They were trampled on by the bank system and many of them lost everything.

Concusion

In conclusion, both of the revered works by John Steinbeck have themes and symbols that aren’t glaringly obvious and require more in depth analysis to find them. They are gracefully woven into the characters, settings, plots and other aspects of the story. You can perceive these in many different ways depending on your prior experiences in literature as well as in real life. These shape your view on the world as well as the world that John Steinbeck created within the confines of the narrative.