On page 15, Steinbeck tells us that because the mixture of air and water over the gulf creates mirages, the Indians do not trust what they see with their eyes. How could this fit with the theme of “appearance versus reality”?

I think this is a metaphor because, although it would seem Kino is rich with his Pearl and his family's life will get better, Kino and his family are about to suffer greatly.

cud you pls try and rephrase the answer like in a different way nothing about kino and his family just the indians in general

There is a life beyond the reality the natives perceived, "people of the Gulf believed in spirits and imaginations, they did not trust things they saw when the images were distorted by the mists rising off the water." Pearls, Gods, the natural elements....were all hidden and revealed in time and space not always seen and understood by man.