Recently, I read The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I found this book to have many themes: greed, love, and even family. But, I found that one theme remained throughout all of the book: music. All of these other themes in the book were intertwined through music. In the book, good and evil are represented as songs. There is The Song of the Family, and there is The Music of Evil. These songs show how much music can represent.

At the beginning of The Pearl, Kino is a poor man. He lives in a small grass hut with his family. One day, a scorpion stings his son, who is just a small baby. As soon as this happens, they rush to the village of the rich people to see if the doctor will save the baby.  They have no money, and the doctor thinks of them as, “Filthy Indians.” So, he refuses to treat the baby, claiming that he has some other patient to treat. When Kino arrives back home, he goes pearl diving as usual. But this time, he finds a particularly old clam, glowing from the inside. When he brings it up, he finds a huge, beautiful pearl inside--The Pearl of the World. Instantly, he becomes famous--the doctor feels a burning passion to save the baby, everyone wants to help him, and he is suddenly showered in gifts. But, he finds that this pearl seems to bring as much evil as it does good. People try to murder him, just to get the pearl. He is hunted, just for the pearl. Everyone, through any means possible, seems to want the pearl. The Pearl is about Kino’s struggle to do what is right--use the pearl to help his family or destroy it before it destroys them.

All throughout the novel, music is used to tell the story. When something bad happens, “The Music of Evil” is described to be playing. Whenever Kino is at home, “The Song of the Family” plays. And most importantly, when he finds the pearl, “The music of the pearl” plays. The music of the pearl acts like a harmony to the other songs--when he first find it, it becomes part of The Song of the Family. But, when it starts to bring on Kino’s assassins, it becomes part of the music of evil.

The most prominent music in the book is probably The Song of the Family. It brings on many things and plays itself many times. For example, it is used to represent determination. It is played when they are all together, and they all feel safe--because they know they can protect each other. On page 13, the Song of the Family is described as playing with a “steely tone.” This happens when Kino’s child is stung by a scorpion, and they are medicating him. In this situation, The Song of the Family shows how much determination as they have.

There is also The Music of Evil--the direct opposite of The Song of the Family. This song is used in the darkest times. For example, when the scorpion that stings Kino’s child first appears, he hears The Music of Evil, all coming from that scorpion. The Music of Evil is used to create a sense of despair and hopelessness, like in this instance. But, it is often used to create other emotions.

Not only is the song used to create despair, but it is also used to create tension. For example, on page 36, when he first finds The Pearl, the doctor rushes to his house to treat his baby. But, as this happens, he hears The Music of Evil playing. At this moment, he starts wondering where it is coming from. “He smelled the breeze and he listened for any sound of secrecy or creeping, and his eyes searched the darkness, for The Music of Evil was playing and he was fierce and afraid.” At this moment, The Music of Evil was used to create mystery.

The most prominent song of all is The Song of the Pearl. This song intertwines itself with the other songs--both The Music of Evil and The Song of the Family. The Song of the Pearl has many meanings, and they change throughout the book. In the beginning, it is part of The Song of the Family. When Kino first finds it, the songs intertwine to create a new melody. “And The Music of the Pearl had merged with The Music of the Family so that one beautified the other.” (Page 29) Once he hears this new melody, he feels great hope and thinks that the pearl will save them. But, as the book goes on, the pearl finds itself a new meaning.

Later on, it then turns itself into part of The Music of Evil. This happens when the assassins first come. At first, he starts to hear The Music of Evil, but he also hears The Song of the Pearl along with it. This is the first moment when he realizes how evil the pearl was. He realized how it could destroy his family. At that time, he chose not accept that. Later on, he ends up destroying the pearl.

This book shows how much music can change people. Even though the music in this book was only a song, it still changed Kino’s perspective whenever it was played. The Music of the Family brought hope--just like music in real life can. Yet, like The Music of Evil, music can also bring despair. This book shows all the power that music has.