Finding Your Place in Steinbeck's 'The Pearl'

6th period
Marisa Montgomery
The Pearl Quote

  Your Place in Life:
 "The loss of the pearl was a punishment visited on those who tried to leave their station. And the Father made it clear that each man and woman is like a soldier sent by God to guard some part of the castle of the Universe. And some are in the ramparts and some far deep in the darkness of the walls. But each one must remain faithful to his post and must not go running about, else the castle is in danger from the assaults of Hell."
Finding Your Place in Real Life:
    Sometimes in life if you try to do something that isn't your job, you might fail because it isn't something you're made to do or it isn't something you're trained to do.
   For example, if a policeman were to do a firefighters job, he wouldn't be as good at it. This is because training to be a fireman never happened for him.
Relying on Others:
   Just like Kino doesn't know how to heal his baby and has to ask the doctor, some of us have to stick to what we know and stay at our 'stand' to prosper.
   It still stands that today a lot of us don't know how to heal ourselves without a doctor, so we must ask for their wisdom. This applies to many situations.
Stick to Your Own Knowledge:
   God made each person to do and be a certain thing, and this quote is saying that if you strayed from your place and what you are meant to be, it might come back to bite you. Not all of us can leave our place and expect to know how to react or what to do in another man's shoes.
Consequences in 'The Pearl':
   The quote is important to the story of 'The Pearl' because it shows how everyone in the book has a purpose and even if that purpose is little, it still exists. Also, back then, it was said that if you leave your place, bad things might happen. It explains that everyone has a place in this world. With Kino, he left his 'stand' and it resulted in the loss of the pearl.
Kino Tries to Sell The Pearl
   Also, another way this quote is important to the book, is that when Kino wanted to sell the pearl, he had to go different people to figure out what the value of his pearl was. This is because he doesn't have the knowledge to identify the value for himself. Because of his lack of knowledge in this certain field, people are trying to cheat and trick him. This is one of the down sides to leaving your place.