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In The Pearl, what internal conflict does Juana experience?

In The Pearl, the protagonist, Kino, and his wife, Juana, find a huge pearl that they believe could make their family rich. The pearl potentially offers their family many things that Juana wants: they could afford to take their sick son to the doctor, for example, or they could afford the cost of school fees and a uniform to send their son to school.


However, it is also immediately evident that keeping the pearl will place their family in danger. The first night after they find the pearl, Kino buries it in a corner of his house. He wakes up during the night when he hears an intruder attempting to dig his way into their home. Kino chases the intruder away, but his wife feels unsafe and begs him to get rid of the pearl.


As their family's misfortunes grow and ultimately culminate in the death of their son, Juana's internal conflict remains her hope for what the pearl could provide their family, and the danger she believes it places them in.

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