"The Artist probes the central mystery of life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to the disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope,with which humanity, if it wise must learn to live."(129 Stienbeck) I believe that the story of The Pearl beautifully fits the outline depicted on page 129 of notes. To begin with the story overall outlines the basic paradox of how evil comes out of good when Kino finds the pearl after his son is bitten by the scorpion and he has not enough money to pay the doctor. That is the good obviously but, the darkness is waiting just outside Kino's view and strikes in the form of the doctor, trying to steal the pearl from Kino and willing to kill him to do it; and the Pearl buyers giving an awful price for the magnificent pearl.
As for, "The tear at the heart of laughter," the seen in the story that shows me this most clearly is when Kino is enjoying his life in his hut with his wife and newborn son. He is entirely engulfed in his happiness until a scorpion starts a catalyst of events that suddenly sends Kino and his family into a spiral of death and evil when no such events were asked for or even considered in Kino's life.
Kino's dreams were smashed and failed when the pearl buyers refused to give him a fair price and instead of making money, Kino walked away from the dealers. He soon had thoughts of despair such as no new clothes as he once dreamed, no education for his son and no wedding for himself and his wife. He had dreamed them and planned them but, they may not come to be true. In all this despair though came the hope of the capital. This hope was, he may be able to give his family the life they deserved by going to the Capital to sell his beloved pearl. Even when Kino and Juana fled to the woods Kino would never give up to get the best for his family. It was this hope that drove him over to kill the trackers and their master.
I believe the couple has learned to live with the paradox of, "The Artist probes the central mystery of
life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to the disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope,with which humanity, if it wise must learn to live."(129 Stienbeck) This belief is due to the fact that these two characters had been through so much that nothing can really compare to them being almost killed and the loss of their firstborn child. They have learned to live with despair even when the amount of hope and realty is so great.
As for the connection to the novel study topic, at first I though Kino himself was acting selfishly wanting to improve his life with the money by buying new clothes, getting properly wed to his spouse and sending his son to school. As I go over what I just stated as selfishness I realize most of this was not for him. He wanted to send his child to school so the entire population of his people could learn along with his son and become educated. Getting properly wed was for his wife and how he could make her happier by being "legally" married to her. Finally the clothes part was put into a group I thought to name as providing better for his family or family protection.The main virtue in this story was how hard Kino fought to try to improve the living standard of his family and people.
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