Rilee
Mrs.Duitsman
English 1
21 December 2017

The Pearl by John Steinbeck and The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by Gabrielle Muccino, clearly portray many similarities and differences within their stories. Not only that Kino, the main character in The Pearl, and Chris, the main character in The Pursuit of Happyness, are both fathers with young sons and are stuck in poverty, but they both had to almost constantly fight to get out of it. As a difference, on the other hand, each father chose a separate path to find happiness, which is what truly makes these stories unique.
In the beginning, poverty causes both men to become basically desperate for money and a life change. For example, Kino decided he needed the “Pearl of the World” in order to afford marriage, clothing, food, a home, and even help from the town’s doctor after his son, Coyotito, who was stung by a scorpion. In order to make his dream of finding it a reality, he began to dive for pearls and became determined. He worked extremely hard and wouldn’t give up until he brought back the pearl that could possibly save his son’s life and grant his family happiness– and eventually, that pearl was found. Chris, too has a similar story, though instead of wanting something physical to sell for money, he felt he needed a job. After searching for a very long time, he found a job with well pay that needed more workers, though they’d only accept one out of tons of people. He worked as hard as he could while still having to care for his son, Christoper alone, since his wife left him, and after a while others started to see how much he really deserved the job and accepted him. After this, both Kino’s and Chris’ lives were completely changed.
The effects from finding the pearl and getting a job ended up being much different. After Kino found the pearl, his town became jealous of him and people would often try to steal it. He was also cheated multiple times. For example, when he tried to sell the pearl, the dealers said it was worthless and offered him a much lower amount of money than what it was actually worth. Also, the doctor of the town wouldn’t help him because of his poverty at the beginning of the book, but once that pearl was found, he instantly went to Kino and “helped” his baby. Coyotito was already better, but in order to still get paid, the doctor then poisoned the baby then cured him from it to make it look like he saved his life. Chris, though, had a much more positive result. After being accepted, he was able to make money and afford a home, food, clothing, toys for Christopher, and much more. In other words, Kino finding the pearl ended up hurting him more than helping him, verses Chris was able to pick himself up and escape from poverty’s grasp.
Lastly, both fathers tried to deal with poverty in a similar way. They kept fighting to get money and tried to do almost everything they could about it. After Kino murders a man that tried to attack him for the pearl, for example, he took his family and left his town. Instead of giving up and surrendering to the people who kept trying to take the pearl, he never gave up the picture in his head of himself and his wife married, his son in school, and their family having a home, food, clothing, etcetera. He also hit his wife and fought with her after she tried to throw the pearl back into the sea without him knowing because of his determination to find a happier life. Chris, too, had a big argument with his wife about their poverty, though she ended up completely leaving him and took Christopher. Instead of letting his son go, though, Chris told his wife that he was going to raise him and she eventually gave him up to him. Chris showed that he would sacrifice almost anything for his son and worked extremely hard to keep him happy and find him a place to sleep. When they were kicked out of their Motel for not being able to pay rent anymore, Chris and Christopher slept in a subway station bathroom because it was all that was available. In summary, Kino and Chris both showed how they’d do anything for their families, even if it meant they’d have to suffer through it.
Overall, The Pearl and The Pursuit of Happyness were amazing stories with great life lessons. They proved that without determination and working hard, life won’t improve very much and it’ll only become much harder in the end. Though working hard is tough in many cases, the fight majorly pays off.