The Pearl is a piece of literature by the American author John Steinbeck. It was first published as a short story in 1945, and later published as an expanded novella two years later. The story follows a pearl diver, Kino, and explores man's purpose as well as greed, defiance of societal norms, and evil. Steinbeck's inspiration was a Mexican folk tale from La Paz, Baja California Sur, which he had heard in a visit to the formerly pearl-rich region in 1940.