The Pearl

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does the pearl portray colonialism positively or negatively?

 

joseph b #225719
Jan 19, 2012 7:11 PM

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does the pearl portray colonialism positively or negatively?
 

jill d #170087
Jan 19, 2012 7:14 PM

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Negatively~ example; The doctor who refuses to save Coyotito’s life at the beginning of the novel because Kino lacks the money to pay him represents colonial arrogance and oppression. Snide and condescending, the doctor displays an appallingly limited and self-centered mind-set that is made frightening by his unshakable belief in his own cultural superiority over Kino, and by the power that he holds to save or destroy lives. Steinbeck implicitly accuses the doctor’s entire colonial society of such destructive arrogance, greed, and ambition. The European colonizers that govern Kino and the native people are shown to bring about the destruction of the native society’s innocence, piety, and purity.

Source(s): http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pearl/themes.html

 

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