The Pearl Greed

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Greed is defined as an intense and selfish desire especially for wealth, power, and food. Sometimes greed can control you and change your views or precepts. In the book The Pearl, a man’s life is changed forever as a result of greed. Greed can lead to a slight altering in your personality or it can cause your priorities to become completely transformed as it did to Kino, the main character in the story. John Steinbeck, the author, uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbolism to illustrate the harsh topic of greed. To begin , the character Kino changes dramatically as the story progresses. At first Kino wakes up to his wonderful family. “The Song of the Family came now from behind Kino. And the rhythm of the family song was the grinding…show more content…
In the beginning, Kino and his family believe that the pearl is superb. “There it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence. It was the greatest pearl in the world” (Steinbeck 20). In the pearl there was hope and a more desirable future for Coyotito. Kino was holding the fate of his family in his hands, and greed would only be one of the several obstacles the he would have to overcome. Juana, his wife, constantly warned him about the pearl and its danger. She wanted to destroy it for the good of the family because she say it as evil long before Kino, but he didn’t listen. As the story draws to a close, Kino’s perspective of the pearl changes immensely. He now believe his wife and brother that the pearl is evil. “He looked into the surface and it was gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peered from it into his eyes, and he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of his head shot away. And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane.” (Steinbeck page 86) Kino tried to hold on to the hope in the pearl as long as possible out of greed, but he finally sees how it has corrupted his family, and himself. The pearl must be destroyed once and for all, and Kino knows this and agrees to throw it into the

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