How Did Kino Get His Canoe?

Kino’s canoe, an heirloom passed down through generations, symbolizes the tradition and culture of his ancestors. It is the one thing of value that Kino owns in the world, representing the primitive values of his culture. After finding the Pearl of the World, he plans to travel across the sea to the capital in his canoe, where he can sell it.

Kinos loses his self-respect as a husband by beating Juana, his integrity as a law-abiding citizen by killing his attacker, and his birthright in the form of the destroyed canoe. His father, who had brought the canoe from Nayarit, gave it to Kino’s father before it became his own. The canoe, an heirloom passed down to Kino from his paternal grandfather, is his sole asset in the world.

Kino and Juana walk slowly down the beach to Kino’s canoe, which is at once property and a source of Kino’s reactions. They are far behind the others due to the attention required by Coyotito. Kino feels that the killing of a family boat (the canoe of his grandfather) is a greater crime than the killing of a boat.

When they find the pearl, both Juana and Kino exercise great tact in not angering the gods by showing their eagerness to open the big oyster. However, when they find the canoe with a splintered hole in the bottom, they rush home to find Juana and Coyotito.

Kino discovers that someone has punched a hole through the bottom of the boat, which was made by Kino’s grandfather. He is determined to find a way to earn the money to pay for Coyotito’s care. After leaving the doctors office, Kino takes his family to the beach where he prepares his canoe, but finds that someone broke a hole through the bottom.

Kino discovers that the killing of a man was not as evil as the killing of a boat. He paddles the pearls out among the other pearlers, as the canoe provides his family with food.