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In The Pearl, what is the evidence that the doctor poisoned Coyotito?

The doctor has no interest in treating Coyotito until Kino finds the pearl, and Coyotito was getting better before seeing the doctor.


Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, which is of course very dangerous for a baby.  His parents act quickly.  Kino kills the scorpion (smashing it to dust in anger), and Juana tends to the wound using home remedy methods.



But Juana had the baby in her arms now. She found the puncture with redness starting from it already. She put her lips down over the puncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again while Coyotito screamed. (Ch. 1)



Sucking the poison out of the wound is a common technique.  It must be administered very soon after the bite or sting, so that the poison does not get a chance to enter the bloodstream.  In this case, it must have worked.  Coyotito does not die.


Juana wants to take him to a doctor anyway. It is unusual for anyone from the village to go to a doctor.  The doctor is a colonist, and is only interested in money.



A wonderful thing, a memorable thing, to want the doctor. To get him would be a remarkable thing. The doctor never came to the cluster of brush houses. Why should he, when he had more than he could do to take care of the rich people who lived in the stone and plaster houses of the town? (Ch. 1) 



The doctor dismisses them immediately.  Kino has nothing but a few tiny, misshapen pearls.  He does not even get in to see the doctor.  He has no money, so the doctor doesn’t care about his sick baby. 


However, things change when Kino finds “the Pearl of the World.”  Everyone wants a piece of Kino’s new fortune, including the doctor.  Suddenly, he can see the baby.  The doctor claims that Coyotito is his patient and he has been treating him.  He tells Kino that he wasn’t there when he first came. It is all lies. 


Kino tells the doctor that Coyotito is “nearly well.”  He is suspicious when the doctor says that sometimes it can seem that a person is recovering from a scorpion sting but then things take a turn for the worse.  Fearing for his baby, he allows the doctor to minister to him. 


The doctor gives the baby and white powder, and his next words are very suspicious. 



"I think the poison will attack within the hour," he said. "The medicine may save the baby from hurt, but I will come back in an hour. Perhaps I am in time to save him." (Ch. 3) 



He obviously gave the baby some kind of poison, so that Kino would have to call him back and pay him.  When the baby takes a turn for the worse, Kino says aloud that the doctor knew it would happen but “his mind was hard and suspicious and he was remembering the white powder” (Ch. 3).  The doctor comes back and ministers to the baby, and pretends to be surprised that Kino has a great pearl.

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