The Pearl

By John Steinbeck

In this classic novella from Nobel Prize–winner John Steinbeck, Mexican diver Kino is following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino’s family with meager substance. But one day, Kino discovers a magnificent pearl—it is as large as a seagull’s egg and as “perfect as the moon”—and with it brings the promise of a better life for his impoverished family.

Based on a Mexican folk tale and providing an intricate examination of the fallacy of the American dream, The Pearl explores the secrets of human nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9780735254343

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.

Reviews for The Pearl

[daniellemd-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was supposed to read this book in 6th grade, but it was so boring to 11-year-old me that I gave up after only a few pages. At 29, I'm wondering why! It's actually a pretty fascinating read. It's also a rather short book at only about 80 pages.
The story is about a poor family man who finds a valuable pearl to help pay for his baby's medical treatment (by a despicable doctor who refers to his people as "animals") only to be corrupted by his potential wealth. He ends up hitting and kicking his wife, and even killing a man for it.
The book has a truly tragic ending.

[dragonfreak · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kino and Juana are the proud native parents of their first newborn son Coyotito. For that time they were very happy, until a scoripian stings Coyotito. They rush him to a doctor, but he refuses to do anything without pay. While canoeing, Juana prays that Kino will find a large pearl to pay the doctor when he goes pearl-diving. And her prayer is answered with an insanely large pearl.When Coyotito falls ill violently, Kino hurries to get the Pearl sold so he will have money to pay the doctor and to bring wealth beyond all means for his family. Problem is: Kino suspects the buyers of cheating him for a horribly low price. And when Kino decides to keep the pearl, trackers are after him and his family to get the pearl, and they will stop at nothing to get the pearl into their greedy hands.Wasn't my favorite book. I know it won a Nobel Prize, but IMHO, I can't see why. There was just too much that felt was missing. I can't explain what the problem were, because it was very whole book with a satisfying ending that was very real people with very real emotions who faces problems with equally as real people with equally as real ambitions of menace, so I can't figure out why I didn't enjoy it. Too short? Too fast of a pace? I don't know, but I may be the only person who didn't seem to enjoy it.Rating: Two and a Half Stars **1/2

[rosenstern · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The allegorical novella about a pearl diver who is bestowed with an invaluable pearl. Little does he know, this pearl causes his world to come crashing down. But the real question is, is the pearl evil or is it merely a pearl and the value that he assigned it, evil- thereby making him evil? Read the book.

[lisa.johnson.james · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This short story, which reads like a fable, is the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver, & the horrific events put in motion when he finds what the villagers call The Pearl of the World. It's for the reader to decide for himself or herself whether the pearl itself is inherently evil or cursed, & brings the unfortunate events down on Kino & his family, or if it is just men who are evil that would steal this from him. Either way, the story ends badly for Kino, & strangely.....

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kino, his faithful wife Juana, and their young child Coyotito live in a small fishing village in Mexico. Their simple lives are transformed overnight when Kino finds "The Pearl of the World" in the sea one day.Steinbeck has written a parable about how wealth may erase innocence and bring evil into our lives. With his lyrical and beautiful prose, he brings the story to life. Juana symbolizes wisdom and common sense - she is Kino's partner and supports his dreams and idealism while being wary of the pearl's lure. Kino's brother is the voice of reason and caution - he represents the history of his people, recognizing that they will always be cheated and must not show too much ambition lest everything that is good will be torn from them. In less than 100 pages, Steinbeck pulls the reader in and makes her care deeply about the characters - we reluctantly turn the pages knowing that only disaster awaits Kino and his family as the pearl becomes Kino's soul and desire. The tale is archetypal as it represents ideas common to all people - greed and desire for wealth. Steinbeck uses the idea of music (the song of family, the song of evil, the song of the pearl) to create a dreamlike story. His attention to detail adds complexity to his character, as when Kino and Juano prepare to go out to sell the pearl.'Kino put on his straw hat and felt it with his hand to see that it was properly placed, not on the back or side of his head, like a rash, unmarried, irresponsible man, and not flat as an elder would wear it, but tilted a little forward to show aggressiveness and seriousness and vigor. There is a great deal to be seen in the tilt of a hat on a man.' -From The Pearl, page 49-The Pearl is felt to be a deeply personal story for Steinbeck who wrote it soon after his overnight success with The Grapes of Wrath. Disillusioned and overwhelmed by the reaction to that novel, Steinbeck turned inward to examine his own motivations. The Pearl also reveals Steinbeck's understanding of people of poverty, including the underlying discrimination he witnessed against the Mexican people in the 1940s.The Pearl is another masterpiece by this Nobel Laureate.Highly recommended.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ah, avarice...it's an old story, really, about how greed always corrupts, about how it always tarnishes everything that it comes into contact with.The Pearl by John Steinbeck is one such story. Kino and his wife, Juana, live simple lives. When their small son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion they set out for the only doctor." Kino hesitated moment. The doctor was not of his people. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race, and frightened it too, so that the indigene came humbly to the door. And as always when he came near to one of this race, Kino felt weak and afraid and angry at the same time. Rage and terror went together. He could kill the doctor more easily than he could talk to him, for all of the doctor's race spoke to all of Kino's race as thought they were simple animals. And as Kino raised his right hand to the iron ring knocker in the gate, rage swelled in him, and the pounding music of the enemy beat in his ears, and his lips drew tight against his teeth -- but with his left hand he reached to take off his hat."Of course the doctor will not see them because they cannot afford to pay his fee. What is it to the doctor? They are nothing to him. Less than nothing. So Juana makes a poultice for her son, and she and Kino do the only thing that they can think of: they pray and venture out to the sea to dive for pearls, hoping that some miracle might occur and they will find a pearl that is worth the life of their son. The pearl that Kino brings up is no small thing - "Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence.... In the surface of the great pearl he could see dreams form."And this changes everything. This pearl must be not only salvation but also the key that opens doors to a new way of life, one that they had not even dared to dream of before. Of course, news travels quickly in a small town, and Kino and Juana are not the only ones that dare to dream about what this pearl can give them: "The essence of pearl mixed with the essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated."Told with Steinbeck's usual care, this simple story is beautifully rendered. I am not sure which I admire more, Steinbeck's ability to describe place so completely that you feel as if you were there, or his ability to provide the reader with physical descriptions of people that also describe their character. I loved the imagery he used to give us the doctor: "In his chamber the doctor sat up high in his bed. He had on his dressing gown of red watered silk that had come from Paris, a little tight over the chest now if it was buttoned. On his lap was a silver tray with a silver chocolate pot and a tiny cup of eggshell china, so delicate that it looked silly when he lifted it with his big hand, lifted it with the tips of thumb and forefinger and spread the other three fingers wide to get them out of the way. His eyes rested in puffy little hammocks of flesh and his mouth drooped with discontent. He was growing very stout, and his voice was hoarse with the fat that pressed on his throat."

[cebellol · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully written story of how wealth and greed changes people, not just the one coming into the fortune and how tragedy changes perspectives.

[countrylife_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Steinbeck classic, apparently based on a Mexican folktale, is a short, but powerful story of an impoverished village and the greedy who keep them so. Though few in pages, the characterization and sense of place are very strong.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Steinbeck's telling of a Mexican tale about being wary of getting what you want.

[hockeygalscores · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is uninteresting, unexciting, has an overlly used moral, and is overall not very good. The moral being that money can't buy happiness. It is a very repettive book, that does not provoke the interest of its readers. Most certainly not a rcommended read.

[kim0rau · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Kino, and Juana live in a tiny village off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They decide to go out pearl diving after their baby Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. Miraculously, they find a pearl, that they then try to sell to cheap dealers. Now Kino must make a decision because the longer they hold onto the pearl, the more evil lurks around them. This book was very descriptive and well writen. However, it didn't entertain me much, since I'm not too interested in morals or adulthood.

[k8soccer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a rendition of an old mexican folk tale that teaches you that greed is bad and you should be happy with what you have. In the story a diver, named Kino, goes diving and finds a great pearl. His fairy tale story ends when people try to get the pearl and chase him out of his city and into the mountains. The ending will suprise you. I personally didn't really like this book. The beginning was kind of boring and the end kind of sad. I got lost in the large vocabulary used in the book sometimes. It wasn't all bad- the descriptions were good and the middle of the book was pretty exciting, but it definitally wasn't my favorite.

[joeydag · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

high school or junior high required reading. It was good

[rampaginglibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I must admit i really like this spare, little parable. Some of the stuff they made us read in school was worthwhile--actually i liked a lot of it.

[dandelionroots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"And he could not take the chance of pitting his certain ignorance against this man's possible knowledge. He was trapped as his people were always trapped, and would be until, as he had said, they could be sure that the things in the books were really in the books." Yup, still in love with Steinbeck. Using the outlines of a Mexican folktale, he demonstrates the futility of singly rising up against injustice and the often corruptive nature of wealth. Kino, an impoverished pearl diver, finds "the pearl of the world" after being turned away by the town doctor when his infant is bit by a scorpion. He envisions security for his family and an improved station in life for his son and his village. But life is not fair, at all in this case. "For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.""Who do you fear?"Kino searched for a true answer, and at last he said, "Everyone."

[englishgeek13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a huge fan of John Steinbeck and will only continue to enjoy his simple, realistic approach to telling a story after reading this fable. Kino is a fisherman in Mexico and has a wife and infant son. Their lives are uncomplicated and set to a song in their souls: Song of Family. One day Kino makes an extraordinary discovery in the form of a magnificent pearl, and the Song of Family is joined by the Song of Evil as Kino faces those who would exploit or threaten him, his family, and the pearl.This is a quick read, and in Stenbeck fashion does not offer any easy answers. The reader is faced with his own moral dilemmas with Kino as both must decide what is right while seeking justice among friends who become enemies. A good read.

[befuddledpanda · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3 stars I admit, I'm not the biggest Steinbeck fan. It's probably because he's too depressing. I, however, do appreciate how much he was able to pack in such a short story. Poverty, social oppression, what it means to be a man, the meaning of family and community, greed, what makes a good woman...I didn't hate the book. I just didn't love it. But I really appreciated the imagery of song - that was pretty cool. In short, I didn't love this book because I was so frustrated by the situations and limitations but did not have anything good to hold on to. I didn't really like the characters - the closest was Juana, the wife. But her character seemed inconsistent - one moment strong, one moment meek without believable reason.

[lamotamant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

During 1940 Steinbeck, along with his friend Ed Ricketts, set sail for six weeks. The two traveled from "Monterey up the west shore of the Gulf of California to Angeles Bay and then across to Puerto San Carlos east and south to Agiabampo Estuary." The result of their travels being Steinbeck's and Ricketts' Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research.

After a night of beers with natives of La Paz on the Isla Espiritu Santo, Steinbeck and Ricketts' were invited to check out the town of La Paz. It is amidst Steinbeck's account of the three days spent in La Paz that he mentions the story that he would eventually rewrite as The Pearl.

Initially a tale of a boy and his pearl seeking his divine three (clothes, booze, and sex), Steinbeck rewrote his Pearl into parablesque form. Playing on the biblical parable of The Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46 NKJV) he layers this short but significant read with the voices, songs, and characters of Kino, Juana, and Coyotito.

In Kino we have a father that carries the weight of the wealth and health of his small family and the village, both neighbors and extended family, they live in. His character is complemented by Juana with whom Steinbeck exhibits the wisdom of the mother and the pragmatist, the active nurturer of both husband and son. Both parents have strength and intensely delineated merit in their presumed roles in both village and home but Steinbeck does a very good job of furthering this and letting it flower into the reality of a relationship. Even as it becomes a relationship strained.

The reader is quickly dosed with the vulnerability of Coyotito and, in turn, his parents and the balance of their life, the "Song of the Family," by a scorpion sting. But it wouldn't be Steinbeck if it didn't have layers! Coyotito is also an embodiment of joy, hope, and then grief. The child coming in and out of focus as we travel along with Kino on his trek through psychological development. The weight and shadow of Kino and Juana's return to their village and the pearl's return to the ocean.

I think Steinbeck's parable of the fallacies of a materialistic culture is important and well written. It's very much the tossed pebble rippling of the pond; his layering of characters, situation, action is awesome. I was surprised at how much depth his use of melody added to my connection with the story. It added a primal feel; a glow of the often told legend as it sparks from lips around a fire and resonates.

I think The Pearl is a new favorite. Which is something I seem to say after every Steinbeck I read. I can't help it; Steinbeck does rawness, hope, grief, strength, futility, 'regular' folk, and the importance of the shining humane act so well. His writing makes me want to reach out into the world and change something, change myself.

[elliepotten · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's been a while since I read this, and honestly I think it will be quite forgettable in the long run - but I obviously really enjoyed it at the time, hence the four-star rating! A kind of fable about greed, materialism and envy built around the discovery of a great pearl by a poor Mexican freediver, it's short, folksy, lyrical and poignant, and I very much enjoyed the musicality and dreamlike feeling of the reading experience. Not necessarily one I'd rush to read again, but quite beautiful!

[aoibhealfae · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This was a compulsory book for English during my final year of highschool. I absolutely abhor this book and end up taking an extra subject on English Literature on the same year. It was the years I had to stay in Terengganu's school and I remembered distinctly that half of the class have difficulties with the language and the teacher was adamant to simplify the book into something that is favourable to the kampung kids in Malay with Terengganurian accent no less.

The story unfolds beautifully with the seas and surrounding of Mexican settlement but then the paranoia sets in when one man found the most beautiful and largest pearl he had. With the treasure he had in his hand, his imagination and paranoia began to drift him towards insanity as he began to distrust everyone around him. He eventually escaped with his family and tragedy strikes him in the most unimaginable way.

Its not one of the greatest by Steinback (even if it was a retelling of a story) but it did provide some food for thoughts. But I sincerely I hope the ministry of education would come up with another book as there was too much tragedies in the syllabus alone.

[anotterchaos · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read in one labor-sitting. Classic Steinbeck, with rich descriptions and thoughtful characterizations. Sad, but inevitable, ending. I don't understand how it's listed as "Fiction Sex Customs" or "Erotic Literature" unless I'm completely missing a whole lot of symbolism (which I'm willing to concede is possible).

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It felt like fairy tale with a moral ending.

[beequiet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To say that this is a book about the corrupting influence of wealth would be to do it a disservice. Among the works one could happen across in your local book shop, such tales are two a penny. What this novella delivers in abundance is a love of the human, a love of family, a love of those things we see as being the most fundamentally good in our nature. When Steinbeck describes the effect of the sun, I feel warm. When he describes the food, so simple in its own way, I feel a longing to enter the scene and break bread with the man, his wife and young child. When they receive fortune, my heart lights up for them, and as the tragedy of the story unfolded I felt the heaviness of it myself.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From page one, the reader is clearly told that this is a fable in which "there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between anywhere." In this parable, Kino lives with his wife Juana and son, Coyotito, living simply as a pearl diver. Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, and since Kino is poor he cannot pay for the doctor to help his boy. Then, he finds the Pearl of the World and plans on changing his life for the better, forever.Steinbeck has a knack for describing things briefly but powerfully and memorably, an aspect of this story that I definitely enjoyed. The story is short and simple and, like any parable, has a moral to it. My recurring difficulty with Steinbeck seems to be that I am simply unhappy with what the story is, and wish he told a different one (this strikes me as a bit unfair at the same time). In this case, I also had some trouble connecting with the characters. While not the story for me, I could definitely appreciate the description and would recommend it.

[hermit_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A folktale of lower California is the basis for this narrative about Kino, a simple pearl fisherman, who finds an enormous pearl that promises to provide for all his family's needs. But Kino soon learns that this find brings nothing but misfortune. This misfortune prompts Kino to throw the large pearl back into the sea and resume his difficult way of life. As many learn, those who are greedy are never happy.

[homeschoolbookreview · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kino, a young and strong but poor pearl diver, and Juana live with their baby son Coyotito in a small fishing village outside the city of La Paz, Mexico (which according to Wikipedia is in Baja California Sur on the Gulf of California). Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, but as Kino has no money to pay the doctor, the boy is refused treatment. He recovers, thanks to Juana’s ministrations, but the next day Kino finds a huge pearl, which he calls “the pearl of the world.” By selling it, he can get the money to pay the doctor, but he also dreams of buying a rifle, marrying Juana, and getting Coyotito an education, things that he has never had money for thus far. However, his dreams blind him to the greed that the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors. Soon, the whole town knows of the pearl, and many people begin to desire it. That night Kino is attacked in his own home. The next day, he takes the pearl to the pearl buyers in the town, but they refuse to give him the money he wants so he decides to go to the capital for better price. Juana, seeing that the pearl is causing darkness and greed, sneaks out of the house later that night to throw the pearl back into the ocean, but Kino catches her. While he is returning to the house, Kino is attacked again by several unknown men and the pearl is lost in the struggle. Juana finds it and gives it back to Kino. When they arrive home they find that their canoe is damaged and their home is burning down, so they determine to walk to the capital but soon find that they are being tracked by men who are hired to hunt them. Will the family be able to escape? And what will happen to the pearl? This novella, which was first published as a short story “The Pearl of the World” in Woman’s Home Companion in 1945, explores man's nature as well as greed and evil and supposedly illustrates our fall from innocence. It is said to be a retelling of an old Mexican folk tale. That the doctor has performed clumsy abortions and had a mistress is mentioned. There are references to drinking wine and smoking cigarettes as well as to both “God” and “the gods.” Kino and Juana are not married but, of course, are living together and have a son. The story exhibits Steinbeck’s typical pessimistic cynicism leading to the conclusion that if something good ever happens, you had better watch out because it is just setting you up for something really bad. Someone has suggested that it bares “the fallacy of the American dream--that wealth erases all problems.” I don’t agree that the American dream is that wealth erases all problems, although some might think that, but I do agree that we must learn that wealth is not the ultimate answer to man’s greatest needs and presents some serious problems. All in all, it is not too bad of a book.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

John Steinbeck wrote several bad books (The Red Pony, Tortilla Flat, The Grapes of Wrath...), but this one just might be his worst. His message to the poor and ignorant: "Be glad you're not rich and smart---money and knowledge are the root of all evil and only lead to misery, so take comfort in your community of poverty and ignorance!" Leave it to a successful, well-educated "humanist" to write an absurd, contemptible little parable glorifying these things. It isn't even well-written (even for Steinbeck), and the story is truly ludicrous.At least Steinbeck wrote some good books too, books like Of Mice and Men, The Winter of Our Discontent, and East of Eden...pick up one of them instead.

[omgully · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great story that was based on a Mexican tale, I believe. Another fine example of the human condition and how pride and fortune can destroy us if we're not careful.

[fliss88_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Steinbeck has caught life's tragedy perfectly. A poor fisherman, discovers untold wealth, only to have his life turned upside down because of it. The writing style reminded me a little of Ernest Hemingway's in his book, The Old Man and The Sea.

[theokester · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's been many years since I'd read anything by Steinbeck. I read Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men back in High School. I've re-read Mice and Men once since then. In my ongoing effort to read through more works by the "classic" and "modern classic" authors, I picked up The Pearl. I didn't have any real preconceived notions going in and I definitely don't remember anything of Steinbeck's style so I can't really compare this to his other work or comment on it in terms of other fiction of his day. My initial reaction to the writing were mixed. It had a strange balance of being both simple/rough and also containing well-crafted writing. I wasn't sure if the moments/scenes of stumbling words were perhaps intentional to let the structure of the work comment on the poverty and lack of education or status of the characters or if maybe Steinbeck's overall style is less of a refined, polished work and more a raw compilation of language. Whatever the case, even though some segments felt a bit oddly structured, I found the reading to be very easy and fluid and I was quickly drawn into the tale.The story felt VERY familiar. So much so that I wondered many times if, perhaps, I actually had read this book before. Commentary says that it's based on a Mexican folk tale, so I suspect I've either read this book before or else some other story based on the folk tale. The plot of the story is one of those tales that felt to me to be something that could have influenced countless other stories either directly or indirectly. In spite of the setting this is an almost timeless tale of greed, aspirations and jealousy that could be set in any location or time and follow the same arc.Even though (or perhaps because) the story felt so familiar and flowed so naturally, I was able to find additional depth in it as I thought on the possible moral trajectories the story would take. The initial pages introduce us to a very poor family living in a poor fishing village. The baby boy is stung by a scorpion before the father can stop it and they are unsure if they will be able to save their son. Their poverty leaves them in a very tight place as they interact with the affluent doctor and townsfolk. While the mother applies natural remedies, father goes fishing and discovers an immense pearl. Both mother and father are certain the pearl will bring amazing changes into their lives. The mother fears it is a sign of evil while the father is sure it will provide wonderful opportunities. As you might expect, news of the valuable pearl spreads and suddenly the family is dealing with advances from not only the well-to-do people like the doctor but other desperately poor people in the village. The story continues as you might expect and finally ends with pain and tragedy that came in a slightly different direction than I initially predicted. The conclusion of the book very clearly takes a stance on the effects of such windfalls of wealth and the nature of mankind. And yet, it is up to each individual reader to internalize and decide what moral message to take from the book. Most of the characters are embodiments of greed and manipulation but a few of them represent potential redemption and show that even amid dark times there can be influence for good.Even though I don't remember Steinbeck's other works well, I do remember that his themes and tones are emotional downers. This book follows that same trend. From the beginning to the end there is one tragedy after another. And even in the pages without physical tragedies and struggles we are still given moral difficulties to wrestle with as we watch a father filled with the good, pure desire to provide for his family but struggling with the best way to do so. The simplicity of the story and length of the book make this very accessible. However, the heavier theme and somber events may limit the audience. As such, I can see why schools have students read Mice and Men instead of The Pearl even though they are very similar in length. Still, this story does have a worthwhile moral to think about and is a great piece of literature to stimulate discussions on the nature of good and evil within humanity. If you have a little time to spare, give it a read. It will leave you pondering for a while.***3 out of 5 stars