The Pearl Greed as a Destructive Force

The Pearl Greed as a Destructive Force

Greed is a powerful emotion and can have dangerous consequences. It can cause a friendly and kind person to suddenly cheat, lie, steal, and even kill in the blink of an eye. In "The Pearl", John Steinbeck presents a world in which greed causes Kino's entire life to fall apart. As Kino seeks to gain wealth and status throughout the book, he transforms from a happy, contented father to a savage criminal, showing the way ambition and greed destroy innocence. Kino's desire to acquire wealth alters the pearl's natural beauty and good luck, transforming it from a symbol of hope to a symbol of human destruction. In the end, Kino's greed leads to separation from his cultural tradition and society, loss of his most important possessions, and a broken family.

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The destructive force of greed for the pearl also greatly affects the people of Kino's village. When Kino finds "The Pearl of The World", at first his fellow friends and divers seemed to be pleased for him. But, when they start thinking of how they could gain this pearl for themselves, then the entire town starts to fall apart. The doctor, pearl dealers and even the town's priest try to steal the pearl from Kino, allowing the pearl to corrupt them with greed: "It came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wondered what the pearl would be worth" (Steinback 21-22). Maybe irrelevant Suddenly, Kino becomes paranoid that everyone wants his pearl, so he becomes

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overprotective and mentally separates from the town. But then, Kino kills a man who was trying to steal his pearl and not only separates from the town mentally, but physically as well. By the time Kino realizes what the pearl has caused, it is too late, and Kino's entire life becomes destroyed because of his greed.

Because of Kino's ambition to gain wealth, he has lost all that was important to him. Grammar Problem Maybe run-on In the beginning of the book, the lives of Kino and Juana were deprived, but seemingly simple, normal and similar to their neighbors and they were fine with that. Then, as Coyotito gets stung by the scorpion, they face a big problem: they do not have enough money to get him treated by the doctor. Although Juana does manage to suck out most of the poison, they do not know whether the baby will be okay or not:

"The stomach cramps had not come to Coyotito.