Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Soon, Kino wakes up just as Juana digs up the pearl and takes it out to the beach to throw it away. Full of rage, he runs after her, and as she is about to throw it, he hits her. When she falls, he kicks her, and Juana falls in the shallow water and lays there for a while: “She knew there was murder in him, and it was all right; she had accepted it.” She believes that since Kino is a man, he is “half insane and half god.” She knows “the mountain would stand while the man broke himself,” but she also cannot live without Kino.

The pearl, knocked from her hand, lies in the path. She follows Kino back toward the house, but stops when she sees the pearl there, and contemplates making another effort at throwing the pearl away. Then she sees Kino lying in the path next to “a stranger with dark shiny fluid leaking from his throat.” He has committed murder, and now, their old life is gone forever and all they can do is save themselves.

Juana removes the corpse and tends to her husband’s wounds. Kino is distraught, thinking the pearl has been lost; Juana gives him the pearl, saying, “Can you understand? You have killed a man.” She convinces him that they must leave, for “they will come for us.” The situation becomes worse when Kino finds out that someone has carved a hole in his canoe. In Kino’s mind, the killing of a man is not so evil as the killing of a boat. This is because a boat is unable to protect itself, and a wounded boat does not heal. Kino is possessed by animal rage. Concerned now only with the thought of preserving himself and his family, he hides the pearl under his shirt and walks toward his home. But he finds Juana running back to him with the child and a blazing light behind her. She tells him that “the dark ones” have burned their home to the ground.

Kino now becomes afraid, for “light was danger to him.” Kino and Juana sneak into Juan Tomás’ house. They hear Apolonia wailing “a formal lament”; for she thinks they have perished in the fire. Juan Tomás arrives, and Kino tells him he was attacked and has killed an unknown man: “it is all darkness and shape of darkness.” Juan Tomás says “there is a devil in this pearl” and asks his brother to give it up. Kino tells his brother that the damage to his canoe is a graver crime than murder. He begs Juan Tomás to hide them until nightfall, so they can leave town under the cloak of darkness.

Kino and Juana wait silently in the house all day. Juan Tomás spreads different rumors among the neighbors about Kino and Juana’s whereabouts. As the day progresses, he presents the idea that Kino and Juana have perished on the sea. Juan Tomás borrows food and tools from his neighbor, which he gives to Kino, who plans to go north to the cities he has heard of in stories. He has decided to keep the pearl with him: “It is my misfortune and my life and I will keep it.” In fact, Kino says the pearl has become his soul, and that to give it up would be to lose his soul. Before setting out into the early night, Kino tells his brother, “Go thou also with God.”