Log 2

The book I’m reading is “The Pearl”, written by John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel prize. And it is an old book published in 1945. I’d never heard about this book before and I just randomly picked it from library for its appealing summary on the back. The book is roughly about the story of a fisherman who found a pearl that is beyond price. He hoped to buy peace and happiness for himself, his wife and their little son with the Pearl. Instead he found that peace and happiness are not to be purchased. Those can only be created by themselves. They are, themselves, pearls beyond price.

So far, I have finishing reading the first chapter. The main character, Kino, a fisherman who living a difficult life with his family. One day, a worse things happened, the couple’s little son, Coyotito, got stung by scorpion. Coyotito’s mother, Juana, sucking hard on his wound and spat, but the condition of her son didn’t get any better. They had no choice but to decide to seek the doctor in the neighboring, wealthier village. Not surprisingly, the nasty and greedy doctor refused to treat their son because they came from a poor, underdeveloped village and had no enough money to pay. They got turned away at the gate. This is what I have read from the first chapter. The contents of this chapter is full of concepts and implications about racism and capitalism. In the story, different races and groups are unable to accept and treat each other well, and people are selfish and only driven by profit. When I was reading this book, I felt indignant about the experiences that the protagonist and his family went through. But then I think, are we not also living in such a world? In today’s society, most people only care about themselves.When others need help, we often choose to be outsiders rather than get ourselves involved in potential troubles. Just like in the story, Kino's neighbors followed him to the doctor, but their intention was not to help Kino and his family, they were simply there to see how things would become and gossip. Even though I’ve only read the first chapter of the book, I can already strongly feel the author’s attempt to use this story to raise people’s awareness about various critical issues and underlying problems in society that cannot be ignored. In a way, his story indeed successfully  led my attention to those matters. I can’t help wondering if I were the doctor in the story, would I get away from the “social norms” and help Kino’s child. Also, if I were one of those neighbors, would I stand by and do nothing or reach out a helping hand to Kino and his family. For the former, I don't have a definite answer on what I would do. As for the latter, I have to admit that I would probably behave like those neighbors, keeping myself from involving other people's affairs. I am quite sure that this is not what the author expected, so I hope this book will change my perspective and broaden my view on these issues. I’m extremely excited about how the story will evolve.