Like her husband, Kino, Juana is hard-working, serious, and able to endure great physical and emotional strain. She nurses Coyotito, builds fires for corncakes, prays in times of distress, and attempts to heal her baby’s scorpion sting. Though she defers to her husband as a wife is expected, Juana is also strong-willed, and it is she who insists that Coyotito see the doctor. When she takes initiative and tries to get rid of the evil pearl, however, Kino beats her into submission. Yet even Kino’s violence Juana accepts rationally, reminding herself of the necessity of man for woman.
Juana Quotes in The Pearl
The The Pearl quotes below are all either spoken by Juana or refer to Juana. 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 1
Quotes
Juana sang softly an ancient song that had only three notes and yet endless variety of interval. And this was part of the family song too. It was all part. Sometimes it rose to an aching chord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole.
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
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Chapter 3
Quotes
“Who do you fear?” Kino searched for a true answer, and at last he said, “Everyone.” And he could feel a shell of hardness drawing over him.
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Chapter 4
Quotes
“I am afraid. A man can be killed. Let us throw the pearl back into the sea.” “Hush,” he said fiercely. “I am a man. Hush.”
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Chapter 5
Quotes
A dead man in the path and Kino’s knife, dark bladed beside him, convinced her. All of the time Juana had been trying to rescue something of the old peace, of the time before the pearl. But now it was gone, and there was no retrieving it.
Chapter 6
Quotes
“Juana,” he said, “I will go and you will hide…if I can escape them, I will come to you. It is the only safe way.” She looked full into his eyes for a moment. “No,” she said. “We go with you.”
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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.
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The two came from the rutted country road into the city, and they were not walking in single file, Kino ahead and Juana behind, as usual, but side by side.
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The people say that the two seemed to be removed from human experience; that they had gone through pain and had come out on the other side; that there was almost a magical protection about them.
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And then Kino laid the rifle down, and he dug among his clothes, and then he held the great pearl in his hand. He looked into its surface and it was gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peered from it into his eyes, and he saw the light of burning.
Get the entire The Pearl LitChart as a printable PDF.
Juana Character Timeline in The Pearl
The timeline below shows where the character Juana appears in The Pearl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...before him, and then steps outside of his brush house to watch the sun rise. Juana, meanwhile, begins to make a fire in the pit and to grind corn for morning...
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...industrious ants and coaxes a shy dog that has wandered over to their hut, as Juana makes the cakes and sings to Coyotito. It is a morning like all others, safe...
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Kino goes back into the hut and eats his corncake with Juana, both of them silent because they need not speak, as sun streams in through the...
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Suddenly, Kino and Juana freeze as they see a movement from Coyotito’s hanging box and turn their heads to...
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As the scorpion moves further down the rope, Juana prays in a whisper, an ancient prayer as well as a Hail Mary.
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From Coyotito’s shoulder, Kino takes the scorpion and squashes it angrily. Juana, meanwhile, tries to suck the poison out of Coyotito’s shoulder. Kino stands by, feeling helpless.
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Just as Kino is admiring her fortitude, Juana demands that the doctor be gotten.
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...spreads quickly through the neighbors. When word gets back that the doctor will not come, Juana decides that the family will go to the doctor themselves.
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The neighbors follow at the heels of Kino and Juana as they walk to and arrive at the city, replete with plaster, stone, and fancy...
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...about the town—the sins of its inhabitants, the bad ways of the doctor—pin Kino and Juana down as “poverty people,” and look on to see what will come of their visit.
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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...
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Shame settles over the group of neighbors and beggars that has followed Kino and Juana; they disperse to save Kino from the humiliation.
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Chapter 2
Kino and Juana walk to the beach, in the direction of their canoe. Kino had inherited the canoe...
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On Kino’s blanket, Juana sets down Coyotito, who’s calmed but still swollen. Juana treats his sting with seaweed, which...
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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...
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Kino and Juana take off in the canoe, and look down at the oyster bed, which, it’s suggested,...
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...surface and places that final oyster at the bottom of the canoe. Both Kino and Juana try not to get too attached or dwell on Kino’s apparent excitement. Kino opens all...
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...time to open the promising oyster, Kino hesitates, afraid its glint was an illusion, but Juana encourages him.
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...Pearl that Might Be resonant and warm and sees dream forms in his lucky find. Juana comes to look at the pearl, which Kino holds in the hand with which he...
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Juana goes over to check on Coyotito and finds that the swelling of his shoulder has...
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Chapter 3
Kino and Juana, unaware of the envy that surrounds them, assume that everyone feels the joy that they...
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When Juan Tomas asks Kino what he will do as a rich man, Juana covers her excitement with her shawl and Kino quietly states that he and Juana will...
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Juana looks admiringly at Kino while he sees in the pearl visions of ever-grander dreams. He...
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...declaring that his son will read and write and make numbers, and that he and Juana will know things through him. Never having spoken so much in his life, Kino stops,...
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Juana begins to make a fire and the neighbors remain. Word comes that the priest is...
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...will thank God for it and pray to Him for guidance. Kino nods obediently and Juana reports that they plan to be married. The priest blesses them approvingly and leaves.
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Juana calls to Kino to show him Coyotito’s stomach spasms and flushed face, which convince the...
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...doctor and his doctor’s bag carefully. The doctor claims that the baby will improve and Juana looks at him admiringly.
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...the night and then reburies the pearl in a hole under his sleeping mat. To Juana’s inquiry about who Kino fears, he responds, “everyone.”
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As Kino and Juana try to fall asleep, Kino’s mind continues to work, dreaming of a learned Coyotito and...
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Kino assures Juana that he is alright, and Juana begins to make a fire and clean Kino’s head...
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...Kino pulls out the pearl to admire it, full of promise and comfort. Kino and Juana smile together, as one, and greet the morning full of hope.
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Chapter 4
The importance of this day for Kino and Juana is felt very strongly. Juana dreams of a baptism for Coyotito.
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All the neighbors go, as expected, to follow Kino and Juana to the pearl dealers.
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Juana and Kino prepare to go with Coyotito, Kino tilting his hat forward to convey his...
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Kino feels evil swell about him, but gains strength when he looks at Juana.
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...possibility of going to the capital, at first wary of the idea and then determined. Juana watches him bury the pearl and feeds Coyotito.
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...that the capital may not be the best place to go because, there, Kino and Juana will have no one to rely on.
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...with God” and, when Juan leaves, Kino sits observing all the sounds that surround him. Juana sits with him for comfort and sings the song of the family.
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Kino senses something outside the house and clutches his knife as he walks outside. Juana hears a struggle and when she goes outside, Kino is on the ground with no...
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Juana brings Kino, half conscious, into the house and wipes off his blood. Kino reports that...
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Chapter 5
Kino awakes in the middle of the night to see Juana arise from the bed mat, go over to the fireplace, pause by Coyotito, and then...
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Kino hisses at his wife with bared teeth, while Juana looks back with brave eyes. She is familiar with and unafraid of Kino’s murderousness. Kino...
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Juana, meanwhile, lifts herself up and reassures herself that Kino is necessary for her survival. She...
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Following after Kino, Juana comes across the pearl. She is considering whether she ought to try disposing of it...
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Seeing that Kino has killed the other figure, Juana recognizes that she and Kino have left the life they’d led before, and that there’s...
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Kino begins to complain of having lost the pearl, but Juana silences him by presenting it. She tries to explain to Kino that they have to...
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Kino instructs Juana to get Coyotito from the house while he brings the corn and prepares the canoe....
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...arrive and Kino, determined, runs 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...
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Kino and Juana sit in silence during the day and hear what the neighbors are saying about them...
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Kino and Juana leave the house before the moon has come out. Juan calls to his brother, “Go...
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Chapter 6
In strong wind and under a black sky, Kino and Juana begin to follow the sandy road that leads to Loreto, the home of a statue...
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Coyotes and owls make their night noises. Evil lurks about. Kino and Juana walk all night, and Kino hears the song of the pearl and the song of...
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...dawn, Kino 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...
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Kino watches ants at his feet as he eats a corncake Juana has offered him. The sun rises high and hot. Kino instructs Juana not to touch...
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Juana and Kino discuss the likelihood of whether they are being followed. Kino is certain that...
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...can see in the pearl only the man he’s killed. He declares that he and Juana will be married, but he sees in the pearl Juana’s beaten body. He declares that...
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Juana is playing with Coyotito and Kino is lightly asleep when Kino cries out in a...
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Kino backs up, considering it hopeless to cover his tracks, and suggests to Juana that maybe he should just surrender himself. Juana challenges him, doubting that the trackers would...
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Kino pictures the trackers coming up the mountain after them, once they find Kino and Juana’s previous resting ground, but he cannot see them from where they are.
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Kino tells Juana to go north to Loreto or Santa Rosia while he leads the trackers into the...
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Kino and Juana arrive at a little spring, with water bubbling out of the stone and falling into...
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...estimates that they’ll catch up by evening and suggests that they go west. He orders Juana to go hide in a cave up the hill, where she’ll be more hidden. Kino...
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Kino tells Juana the plan—when the trackers follow Kino’s path uphill, Kino and Juana will go back down...
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Kino pictures the position of the men, and then returns to Juana and informs her that he plans to attack the tracker with the rifle first. She...
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...narrator reports that all the people of La Paz remember the moment when Kino and Juana came back to the town as the sun was setting. They walked not in single...
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...canoe, and Kino lays down the rifle and takes out the pearl, offering it to Juana. She insists that he do the deed. He flings the pearl back into the ocean,...
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Kino and Juana stand next to one another and the music of the pearl fades away.
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