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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
A baby is killed; men are murdered; Kino kills in self-defense; violence escalates throughout
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief marital sexual reference
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
A spare parable about the destructive power of greed and colonial exploitation
What this book is about
A Mexican pearl diver named Kino finds the Pearl of the World — a discovery that brings wealth, violence, and tragedy to his family. Steinbeck's allegorical novella, drawn from a Mexican folk tale, is a spare, devastating meditation on greed, colonialism, and the way fortune can corrupt and destroy those it touches.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Death of a baby as the tragedy's climax
Multiple deaths
Colonial exploitation of indigenous people
Reader Verification
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