30, April 2026
Diagnostic Power and Treatment in The Pearl by John Steinbeck: A Study of Medical Authority, Social Inequality, and Psychological Resistance
Author(s): K. Akshaya
Authors Affiliations:
Phd Research scholar
K.N Government Arts College for Women(A), Thanjavur
DOIs:10.2017/IJRCS/202604022 | Paper ID: IJRCS202604022Abstract
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Abstract: This research paper examines the concept of diagnostic power and treatment-based control in John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. It focuses on how medical authority operates not only as a system of healing but also as a form of social and psychological control. In the novel, illness and injury are not treated as simple physical conditions; instead, they become tools through which power structures reinforce inequality and dominance over poor communities.
Using the theoretical framework of Michel Foucault, especially his ideas on medical gaze, surveillance, and institutional power, this study explores how doctors and medical systems in the text represent authority that defines who is “worthy” of treatment and who is excluded. The research also highlights how diagnostic language itself becomes a form of control, where naming a condition also shapes social identity and limits personal agency.
The paper further discusses social inequality in The Pearl, showing how poverty influences access to treatment and how medical decisions are often guided by economic and class bias rather than human need. It also examines psychological resistance, focusing on how the characters respond emotionally and mentally to systems of control that appear scientific but are deeply unequal.
Overall, the study argues that medical treatment in the novel is not neutral. It is deeply connected to power, wealth, and social hierarchy, making diagnosis and care part of a larger system of domination.
Keywords: medical authority, diagnostic power, treatment, social inequality, power relations, medical gaze.
K. Akshaya (2026); Diagnostic Power and Treatment in The Pearl by John Steinbeck: A Study of Medical Authority, Social Inequality, and Psychological Resistance, International Journal of Research Culture Society, ISSN(O): 2456-6683, Volume – 10, Issue – 4, Available on – https://ijrcs.org/