John Steinbeck Relationships With Men

By today's moral and social standards, it is completely unacceptable for a man to lay his hands on a woman in an act of violence, and vice versa. But back in the 1900's, it was still acceptable for a man to keep his family within his standards by any means. In John Steinbeck's 1947 novel The Pearl, Steinbeck explores the traditional and rigid view of females in society through relationships with men in regards to gender equality. As time has went on, gender roles have changed dramatically, as they also change slightly through the course of The Pearl.

Kino and Juana are married couple in a small, rural fishing and pearl diving community, and they have a small child named Coyotito. Kino is the man of the house, and he can be described as
Kino repeats, "'I am a man,' and that meant certain things to Juana. It meant he was half insane and half god(Steinbeck 59)." Juana knows that a man will fight against mountains and seas, but he will never win. And Juana, as a woman and wife, knows that Kino will never win, but won't tell him because the fight is what makes him a man. To question him would be taking away his masculinity. Juana does not understand the differences between men and women, but will not question them. Tradition told Juana that she cannot survive without a man, even though her caution, reason, and preservation could save them, so she followed Kino out of loyalty and
As Kino is climbing, he hears "the Song of the Family[…] become as fierce and sharp and feline as the snarl of a female puma(Steinbeck 84)." Kino compares the Song of the Family to a female because subconsciously he knows that women have just as much ferocity as men do, when it comes to protecting their family. Females are also, arguably, more instrumental to the continued function of a family than a man. Men were often labeled the head of the family, but the only thing they really led was income and economics. The women were the ones caring for the children, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and doing everything necessary to keep a household running. Women are extremely protective in regards to their family and keeping them