Introduction
Though he does not figure largely in the novel’s plot, the doctor is an important character in The Pearl because he represents the colonial attitudes that oppress Kino’s native people. The doctor symbolizes and embodies the colonists’ arrogance, greed, and condescension toward the natives. Like the other colonists, the doctor has no interest in Kino’s people. He has come only to make money, and his greed distorts his human values. As a physician, the doctor is duty-bound to act to save human life, but when confronted with someone whom he considers beneath him, the doctor feels no such duty. As his interior monologue in Chapter 1 shows, the doctor is obsessed with European society, and European cultural values grip his mind so deeply that he doesn’t even realize how ignorant he is of Kino and Kino’s people.
Activity:
We are going to create a character map of the doctor. Grab a sheet from the front. On it, answer the questions about the doctor character. Then complete the drawing on the back side.
Activity:
We are going to create a character map of the doctor. Grab a sheet from the front. On it, answer the questions about the doctor character. Then complete the drawing on the back side.