ENGLISH UJIAN SETARA

ENGLISH UJIAN SETARA
QUESTION 3 : WHAT MORAL VALUES DID YOU LEARN AFTER READING THE NOVEL “THE PEARL” BY JOHN STEINBECK? SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER WITH CLOSE REFERENCE TO THE TEXT.

After reading the novel “The Pearl” written by john Steinbeck, I have learned a few moral values from it. The moral values or lessons in every novel teach us to shape our life and also how to live life the right way. The moral values that I have learned in this novel includes to cherish and love our family, not give up in life and not to have racial discrimination.

One of the moral values that I have learned is to always cherish and love our family. In this novel, Juana shows that she deeply cares for her son, Coyotito. When a scorpion “fell on the baby’s shoulder, landed and struck” (page 5) Coyotito, Juana immediately sucks the poison out from the baby’s punctured shoulder without even thinking twice or considering that her life might be andangered as well. She is also the one who has suggested that her baby be taken to see the doctor. Another instance that shows love in the family is when Kino is willing to sacrifice his life by diving into the ocean to seek what he claims to be the greatest pearl in the world. Kino wants to find the pearl so that he can hire the doctor to cure Coyotito. I think that this moral value has made me care even more for my family than before. I know that what Kino and Juana do is a very noble thing.

Besides that, I have learned to not give up in life. Kino, the main character of “The Pearl”, despite being attacked three times in which two results in him being seriously injured, does not give up his battle, hopes and dreams. In the novel, he battles to stay alive from assassins with malicious intents to snatch the pearl away by any means possible. He also hopes very much to be able to sell the pearl in the capital when the pearl dealers try to trick him. Furthermore, he dreams of being married to Juana in the church and wanting Coyotito to have an education. He wishes to let his family have a more promising future and better life if he can sell the pearl. In order to achieve this goal, he takes his family on an extremely dangerous journey across the sea and mountains to the capital. By his actions, I have learned to always strive for the best in everything that I do. I also learned from this moral value to never give up when push comes to shore.

Moreover, I have learned to not have racial discrimination. In this novel that I have studied, the doctor, his Indian servant and the priest show racism towards the Mexican Indian natives. The doctor treats the Mexican Indian as animals and feels that he is of a superior race. The doctor’s Indian servant initially refuses to speak to Kino in his language when Kino visits the doctor. The priest does not really care for the welfare of the Mexican Indian natives as he speaks to them softly like little children. The novel shows that racism will only result in the abuse, deceit and exploitation of the Mexican Indian natives. This moral value teaches me not to be a racist and this is very important as I am livin gin a colourful country. It also teaches me that racism is not the right way of life.

In a nutshell, the moral values found in this novel make me a better person each day. This novel also teaches me that family is important no matter what, I must always work hard in order to achieve something as well as to acknowledge every individual as no different from myself.