The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a cautionary tale about Kino, a Mexican-Indian, his wife, Juana, and his son Coyotito. After Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion, his family needs to find money to pay for the treatment. While out pearl diving, Kino finds the “pearl of the world.” Little did they know, the pearl would bring them evil and great hardships. The main purpose of this novel is to bring forth the idea of greed. The idea of greed is portrayed with the use of many different literary devices. Three of these devices consist of characterization, foreshadowing, and symbolism.
One of the ways John Steinbeck expresses greed throughout the novel is through characterization and through Kino’s Transformation. Through this story Kino’s expectations, ideals, and feelings change throughout the book. At the beginning of the story he is happy with his life and is enjoying the time he gets to spend with his family. Once he finds the pearl, his perspective changes dramatically. Now he wants everything for his family, “Humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more” (Steinbeck 25). Now for his family he wants to get married, he wants his son to go to school, and he wants a rifle. By the end of the story Kino says “the pearl has become my soul,” (Steinbeck 65) and…show more content… From the beginning Juana knows that the pearl is evil. While she tries to tell Kino that it will destroy everyone Kino does not listen. When she sneaks out in the early morning and tries to throw the pearl back into the sea, Kino hits Juana and says that he is a man and he can overcome the evil of the pearl. While Juana says “let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us let us throw it back into the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil!” (Steinbeck 55). Kino becomes ignorant and does not want to get rid of the pearl because of its great