Pearl Hunters in Mexico

Pearl Hunters in Mexico

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The book The Pearl was a story about a young man who was a pearl hunter near La Paz, a city in Mexico. He was living with his small family, dwelling a weathered hut in a small village stricken with the unfortunate poverty that so many families in Mexico have to endure. His name was Kino and he was mistreated by the more wealthy people in the city of La Paz because of his inability to acquire a suitable amount of money for his family. Kino was strongly looked down upon. There are so many people in Mexico who are mistreated and looked down upon solely based on their income and the pearl hunters quite possibly may be the most judged upon of all.

Most, if not all of the pearl hunters in Mexico work for an unbelievable number of hours for extremely low wages. The average wage of a poor Mexican worker is between $2.00 -$4.25 (around 46 Pecos) a day. A payment of that is not even enough to purchase clothing for a small family. The pearl hunters generally have to dive down to retrieve the Pearl Oysters, or they will catch them using nets. They then crack open the oysters one by one until they find a pearl of value imbedded in the Pearl Oyster's delicate tissue. A worker can look all day long and only find a select few seed pearls, but occasionally there is a magnificent gleaming gem found. The oysters can be quite difficult to open up, and the workers are equipped with inadequate tools which would most often result in injury. Additionally, the divers can contract other health problems due to the job. Karipearls states when the water is very cold, the pearl divers in Mexico come up frequently to restore their numbed circulation by vigorous rubbing. The occupation is especially conducive to rheumatism, and paralysis is more or less general, due, not only to the compressed atmosphere, but to the abrupt changes of temperature. The work is very debilitating, with particular effect on the nerves, and partial deafness is common. It is important that the diver be careful about overeating before descending, as heavy foods, and meats especially, make respiration difficult; therefore, breakfast consists of little more than bread and coffee. This job is empathetically strenuous physical labor and violates the labor laws of Canada and America.

The majority of Mexico's pearl hunters inhabit very poor villages or towns like the one that Kino and his family occupied. These places of living are known as the slums of Mexico. The people living there are low class citizens who tend to be jobless or working unimaginably labor intensive jobs for little money in return. Kino and his family fall into this category as well. Mexico Child Link states that official statistics