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'The natives presented to us in The Pearl are considered primitive and ignorant by the foreigners.' To what extent do you agree with this statement?...

      

'The natives presented to us in The Pearl are considered primitive and ignorant by the foreigners.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use illustrations from the text.

  

Answers


Martin
The writer presents the natives in an intelligent way to a large extent. The natives are united as they take Kino to sell the pearl. From the talk, we know that they know about the white man oppressing them from when they are born to the day they die.

Illustrations

Juana and Kino believe that the traditional medicine is better than the white's man medicine but they use the doctor as they are not confident in the traditional method. The natives are intelligent. Kino is aware that his pearl is worth a lot of money. The pearl buyers work in cahoots and they want to cheat him. They work under one man who controls them and wants to get a big profit margin by buying pearls for the lowest prices. The natives realize this and they pool their pearls and get one man to go sell them in the city and he disappears. they get a second one and this one steals from them. They know that they have been cheated from when they were born to the overcharge of the coffins they are buried in.

the doctor's servant uses a different language to communicate with Kino. He does not want to speak his language and this may be because he works for a white man. The doctor looks down upon the natives and says if they cannot pay he will not treat 'little Indians' as he is not a 'veterinary'.

The doctor comes to see Juana and Kino's baby and gives him a capsule and the baby is sicker. In an hour's time, he comes and makes the baby better. He thinks Kino and Juana are ignorant but they know the doctor is doing something fishy. However, they believe in his medicine.

The priest preaches that the natives should not fight poverty as he equates it with a soldier being give a post and he has to guard it. Not accepting poverty is like leaving the post. Kino gets the pearl and he wants a better future for his family, showing that natives are not ignorant of their status and would want to change it for the better. Thus the natives are not primitive or ignorant but the position they are in causes them to act like they are primitive as they have been oppressed by the white masters.
Moreover, many have not been educated and do not know much of what is beyond La Paz. No wonder some think that the money Kino is offered is a lot and he should just take it. This is because they do not know the value of the pearl.

Conclusion

The natives had been oppressed by the white man and by religion but they know what is really happening around them. Their ignorance is because of the circumstances that they operate in. Most of them like Kino are not educated but they are not primitive.

marto answered the question on August 27, 2019 at 07:33


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