The design for the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck follows an illustrative route in order to tie into the story’s context of being a folk tale that had been passed down. Meanwhile, the illustrations and imagery consistently have a dreary mood to correspond with the tragedy of this story as well as other works by John Steinbeck.
The design for the dust-jacket makes use of blues and cold colours in order to be consistent with the tragic story and allude to dark times. The illustration for the cover consists of imagery of the main character’s being reflected on the surface of the pearl— like Kino often saw reflections on the pearl throughout the story — but also in a way, the characters can be seen as trapped within the pearl. Moreover, the imagery of the cover alludes to the ocean — where the pearl was found— while also alluding to the characters drowning in the rising turmoil in their lives. The characters remain faceless to be consistent with the context of a folktale; meanwhile, the ambiguity allows room for the imagination of the reader
