Chapter 3 Summary and Analysis

Back in town, word spreads quickly about Kino’s good fortune. The news also reaches the priest, who decides to convince Kino to donate the wealth he can derive from the pearl to the church. The doctor also hears of Kino’s pearl, and when he realizes that it was Kino who had approached him earlier, he claims that Kino is one of his clients. The thought of the pearl makes the doctor dream of Paris again. The buyers hear of Kino’s pearl and at once contrive to only offer him the lowest price he will accept. Their job is to work together to get the Indians to hand over their pearls for less than their actual value. The buyers pretend to be three independent and competing pearl agents, but they all actually work for one man. By pretending, they cheat the locals and pay very little money for their pearls.

Kino’s good fortune. The news also reaches the priest, who decides to convince Kino to donate the wealth he can derive from the pearl to the church. The doctor also hears of Kino’s pearl, and when he realizes that it was Kino who had approached him earlier, he claims that Kino is one of his clients. The thought of the pearl makes the doctor dream of Paris again. The buyers hear of Kino’s pearl and at once contrive to only offer him the lowest price he will accept. Their job is to work together to get the Indians to hand over their pearls for less than their actual value. The buyers pretend to be three independent and competing pearl agents, but they all actually work for one man. By pretending, they cheat the locals and pay very little money for their pearls.

As people hear the news of Kino’s pearl, everyone thinks about what they could do with the pearl and become greedy. Kino is the only thing that stands between them and the pearl, so he becomes their enemy, though Kino does not realize this. That night, with his neighbors gathered around, Kino looks into the pearl to see which of his dreams it might grant. He says that he and Juana will be married in the church, that they will all have new clothes, and that he will buy himself a rifle. But the grandest dream on the surface of the pearl is an education for Coyotito. If Coyotito could read what is written in the great books, then his family would not be taken advantage of anymore for their lack of education. The neighbors listen to the plans with reverence.

The priest visits Kino’s house, and Kino finds himself evoking the Song of Evil. Kino, however, is uncertain of who might have triggered the song, but he can hear the evil song softly behind the priest’s questions about the pearl. Juana tells the priest that they intend to marry each other, and the priest is satisfied that they will do good things with their newfound wealth. He leaves, and the neighbors disperse to their homes for supper. Kino feels very alone and vulnerable because the pearl has pushed him toward a new experience; it has forced him to make plans. Kino knows that the gods do not care for men’s plans. He believes that the gods do not like men’s success, unless it is accidental, and that they will take revenge against the man who is successful by his own design.

The doctor comes to Kino’s hut to care for Coyotito, pretending that he’d been out when they had visited him seeking help earlier. Despite Coyotito’s improvement, the doctor insists that he might still be infected with the poison. Kino doesn’t know if the doctor is lying, and he is unable to risk not accepting the doctor’s advice, so he allows the man to give the baby a dose of some white powder from his bag. The doctor tells Kino and Juana that the scorpion’s poison will strike within the hour and that he will come back later.

The doctor returns to his home and eats supper while he waits for the powder’s effect to kick in. While the doctor is gone, Kino wraps the pearl in a cloth and buries it in a corner of the hut near a post for safekeeping. Soon Coyotito suffers stomach cramps like those he might have had if the scorpion’s poison had gotten into his blood. The neighbors gather at Kino’s hut again. The doctor returns eventually and gives Coyotito another potion to end the pain and cramping. He asks Kino how he will pay for the treatment, pretending that he does not know about the great pearl. As the neighbors assure the doctor that Kino will be a rich man because of the pearl, the doctor offers to keep the pearl safe for Kino. Kino declines, but the doctor keenly watches his eyes, hoping that he can discern where Kino has hidden the pearl. Sure enough, Kino’s eyes flick toward the side post of the hut, and the doctor believes he has located the pearl.

When everyone leaves the hut, Kino digs up the pearl and buries it under his sleeping mat. He tells Juana that he is afraid of everyone and that he feels an isolating hardness come over him; Kino is becoming wary of everyone. He wakes up that night when he senses someone in the hut; he locates and attacks the intruder, who is digging near the side post of the hut. However, the intruder also manages to land a blow on Kino’s head. The intruder escapes, and Juana takes care of Kino’s gash while a cold hatred builds in him toward those who try to cheat him. Juana warns Kino that the pearl is evil, and that it will destroy them. She tells him that they should throw it back into the sea before it brings more evil to them, but Kino refuses. He insists that the pearl is their chance to educate their son, to help him break free from the chains of ignorance that bind Kino’s people. Juana insists that the pearl will destroy Coyotito as well, but Kino hushes her and tells her that they will sell the pearl the next day and that the evil will leave them if they do so. As morning arrives, Kino digs up his pearl and looks into it. It holds within it the promise of peace and security, and he smiles. Because she loves her husband so much that he has become a part of her, Juana smiles with him, and the sun rises upon a day of promise for Kino and his family.