For Kino, family means safety, wholeness, and warmth, which is what most of life means and represents for him in The Pearl. The pearl also symbolizes wealth for him. When Kino finds the pearl, it is a symbol of hope and salvation, but to him it means wealth, and like like wealth, it can also represents all the evil in the world. Quote on quote "money is the rule of all evil".
Julie Burstein implies that rejections can actually be seen as a blessing in disguise:
- <em>"There's a fourth embrace, and it's the hardest. It's the embrace of </em><em>loss</em><em>, the oldest and most constant of human experiences. In order to create, we have to stand in that space between what we see in the world and what we hope for, looking squarely at rejection, at heartbreak, at war, at death. That's a tough space to stand in." </em>
This is a very common occurrence in a writer's life, <u>rejections come with the territory</u>. The important thing is to keep trying. There is a reason why a manuscript was rejected, it wasn't unique, or it wasn't developed enough, or it simply wasn't worth salvaging. But in order to find their voice, writers need to be open to experimentation, to change and the ability to adapt.
Another inspirational statement in the same vein comes from Sylvia Plath:
- <em>"I love my rejection slips. They show me I try."</em>
In the excerpt below from Act II, Scene II of "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" what is revealed about Caesar's attitude toward death is Caesar thinks that the valiant bravely face death, which should not be prevented or feared. Calphurnia tries to persuade Caesar not to go out because strange things happened, and she is afraid of what can happen to him. Caesar tells her that he doesn´t fear death because it cannot be prevented so it should not be feared. Caesar also says that cowards die many times before they die because they are afraid of death.
