Perhaps the most important, though most silent, character in the novel, Coyotito is Juana and Kino’s infant son. He is a naïve instigator of action: in the beginning of the novel, he shakes the rope of his hanging box, causing the scorpion to fall on his shoulder and sting him. It is to pay for his treatment that Kino searches for the pearl, and in the end, his cries awaken the trackers and cause them to shoot in his direction and kill him.
Coyotito Quotes in The Pearl
The The Pearl quotes below are all either spoken by Coyotito or refer to Coyotito. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Prologue
Quotes
“In the town they tell the story of the great pearl—how it was found and how it was lost again. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man’s mind…If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it. In any case, they say in the town that…”
Chapter 2
Quotes
She gathered some brown seaweed and made a flat damp poultice of it, and this she applied to the baby’s swollen shoulder, which was as good a remedy as any and probably better than the doctor could have done. But the remedy lacked his authority because it was simple and didn’t cost anything.
Related Characters:
Juana, Coyotito, The doctor
Related Symbols:
The Scorpion
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
[The doctor] held the eyelid down. “See—it is blue.” And Kino, looking anxiously, saw that indeed it was a little blue. And he didn’t know whether or not it was always a little blue. But the trap was set. He couldn’t take the chance.
Related Characters:
The doctor (speaker), Kino, Coyotito, The doctor
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
Everyone in La Paz remembers the return of the family; there may be some old ones who saw it, but those whose fathers and whose grandfathers told it to them remember it nevertheless. It is an event that happened to everyone.
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Pearl LitChart as a printable PDF.
Coyotito Character Timeline in The Pearl
The timeline below shows where the character Coyotito appears in The Pearl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...that has wandered over to their hut, as Juana makes the cakes and sings to Coyotito. It is a morning like all others, safe and whole.
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Suddenly, Kino and Juana freeze as they see a movement from Coyotito’s hanging box and turn their heads to determine its source: a scorpion is climbing slowly...
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Kino is reaching for the scorpion when it freezes in place and flicks its tail. Coyotito then laughs and shakes the hanging box’s rope, causing the scorpion to fall on him...
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From Coyotito’s shoulder, Kino takes the scorpion and squashes it angrily. Juana, meanwhile, tries to suck the...
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...still enraged by the recollection, he knocks the iron ring against the gate and reports Coyotito’s sting to the servant who opens it, speaking in the old language because the servant...
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When the servant tells the doctor about Kino and Juana, and Coyotito’s scorpion bite, the doctor becomes angry, insulted by the notion that he would deign to...
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Chapter 2
On Kino’s blanket, Juana sets down Coyotito, who’s calmed but still swollen. Juana treats his sting with seaweed, which is effective but...
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The narrator notes that Juana has directed her prayers not toward Coyotito’s survival, but toward Kino’s finding a pearl with which to pay a doctor, because her...
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Juana goes over to check on Coyotito and finds that the swelling of his shoulder has gone down. Kino clenches the pearl...
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Chapter 3
...in the pearl—Juana in a new skirt and shoes, he in a new felt hat, Coyotito in an American sailor outfit—and adds that they will have new clothes.
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...admiringly at Kino while he sees in the pearl visions of ever-grander dreams. He pictures Coyotito at a desk and says aloud that his son will go to school. Juana is...
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Kino replies that Coyotito is almost all better, but the doctor retorts that there often appears an improvement before...
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...trapped between rage and fear, but finally lets the doctor enter. The doctor goes to Coyotito and points to the blueness of Coyotito’s wound, as though an indication that the poison...
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The doctor feeds Coyotito a capsule with white powder and gelatin, predicts that the poison will attack before an...
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Juana calls to Kino to show him Coyotito’s stomach spasms and flushed face, which convince the couple that the doctor knew what he...
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...and declares that he is able to defeat the effect of the poison. He feeds Coyotito ammonia as Kino watches the doctor and his doctor’s bag carefully. The doctor claims that...
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...and Juana try to fall asleep, Kino’s mind continues to work, dreaming of a learned Coyotito and hearing the music of evil. Then he hears a small sound from the corner...
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Chapter 4
...day for Kino and Juana is felt very strongly. Juana dreams of a baptism for Coyotito.
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Juana and Kino prepare to go with Coyotito, Kino tilting his hat forward to convey his serious intentions. The pearl lies in a...
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...wary of the idea and then determined. Juana watches him bury the pearl and feeds Coyotito.
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Chapter 5
...to see Juana arise from the bed mat, go over to the fireplace, pause by Coyotito, and then exit through the door. Kino, enraged, quietly trails behind her. When Juana hears...
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Kino instructs Juana to get Coyotito from the house while he brings the corn and prepares the canoe. But as he...
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...towards the house, only to find it engulfed in flames. Juana comes towards Kino, carrying Coyotito, and says that the house had been torn up by “the dark ones.”
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Chapter 6
...finds a clearing by the road to sleep in for a bit. While Juana nurses Coyotito, Kino covers up the tracks they’ve made. A wagon passes by and hides their footprints.
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...will be married, but he sees in the pearl Juana’s beaten body. He declares that Coyotito will read, but he sees in the pearl only Coyotito’s sick face.
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Juana is playing with Coyotito and Kino is lightly asleep when Kino cries out in a bad dream and then...
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...while he leads the trackers into the mountain, and that he will join her and Coyotito if he is able to escape. Juana refuses to leave his side. They move on,...
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...come to drink. They look at the Gulf from afar as Juana washes and nurses Coyotito and Kino drinks.
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...Kino’s path uphill, Kino and Juana will go back down the mountain—and reminds Juana that Coyotito cannot make a sound. Kino watches the trackers climb up the hill and rest by...
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...tells her to go on to Loreto if he’s killed. He lays a hand on Coyotito’s head, touches Juana’s check, and then takes off his white clothing and slithers out of...
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The moon comes up before Kino had hoped, and Coyotito cries a little from the cave. The trackers hear the cry and stir from their...
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