“Greed, like the love of comfort, is a kind of fear.” John Steinbeck’s parable The Pearl illustrates this topic. Even the kindest of people can be driven to greed under the right circumstances. As unassuming of a flaw it seems to be, greed holds an invisible, yet strong hold on nearly every individual. Kino, a Mexican - Indian pearl diver, lives a content life with his wife, Juana, and his infant son, Coyotito. When his son is stung by a scorpion, there seems to be no hope for his treatment, due to the town doctor’s greed and sense of superiority. However, seemingly by chance, Kino manages to retrieve a massive pearl from the depths of the sea. Driven with a sense of hope for his son, Kino must protect his pearl from everything. John Steinbeck’s parable The Pearl illustrates how greed brings out the worst in people.
Kino begins the story a simple man. Accustomed to a daily routine, he feels a sense of responsibility for his family and his people. Though he must work to survive, he seems content with his simple life. Kino’s life is turned on it’s head, however, when his son Coyotito is stung by a black scorpion. Because the town doctor’s fee is too high, he is filled with a sense of despair and anger. Kino’s luck seems to have reversed, however, when he manages to obtain an enormous pearl from the depths of the ocean:
Kino deftly slipped his knife into the edge of the shell. Through the knife he could feel the muscle tighten hard. He worked the blade lever-wise and the closing muscle parted and the shell fell apart. The lip-like flesh writhed up and then subsided. Kino lifted the flesh,and 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 as la...
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...t’s great value became the primary motivation factor for greed, prompting evil and injustice wherever it went. Nearly every character in Kino’s story outside his family acts upon their greed to try and take advantage of Kino’s situation. The doctor in chapter one, at first uninterested in helping a patient that cannot pay, is now more than willing to help when he hears about Kino’s pearl. The pearl merchants try to take advantage of Kino’s lack of pearl selling knowledge to try and buy his pearl for a low price. Kino himself allows his greed to take control of himself and only regrets it when he realizes his son is worth more than the money he should receive. By the end of the story, the pearl no longer symbolizes hope, but now symbolizes evil and anguish. It’s great value became the primary motivation factor for greed, prompting evil and injustice wherever it went.
One of the most common and prominent themes of The Pearl is greed. One of the first examples of this is when Kino went to the doctor to beg for treatment, but the doctor responded, "‘Has he any money?’ the doctor demanded. ‘No, they never have money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing- and I am tired of it. See if he has any money!’” (Steinbeck 11). Many would consider it unethical to refuse treatment to someone simply because of their poverty. The doctor refusing to cure the ill child shows how greed has corrupted him to the point of having an innocent baby die rather than offering up his services for free. Another early instance of greed was when the news of the pearl “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” (Steinbeck 21). Even the people of God, those believed to have the highest morals, became materialistic. He who is supposed to be satisfied with just the love of the lord suddenly hungered for more. This greed eventually came to Kino when Juana suggested throwing away the pearl, but Kino replied, “‘No,’ he said. ‘I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We
Juana soon notices that she and Kino have become every man’s enemy because of this pearl. She says, “‘Throw it away, Kino. Let us break it between stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea.
A pearl is conventionally associated with wealth and prosperity. Like a philosopher’s stone, the pearl is believed to convert sorrows into happiness. Kino, a decent pearl diver and his wife, Juana, along with their son, Coyotito, are a poverty-stricken family until they discover “the greatest pearl in the world.” (p19) With hopes and dreams for themselves and their son’s future, Kino and Juana perceive this pearl to be a resolution for all of their troubles. After finding “the Pearl of the World,” (p22) Kino is plagued with vexation. His greed soon overcomes his benevolence and good intentions. The joint rapacity of Kino and other people precipitates misfortune and violence around him and eventually leads to Coyotito's death. The Pearl highlights
In “The Pearl” the characters, the Doctor, Juan Tomas, and the villagers all represent a type of greed or a lack of greed in the situation of the pearl. All of them want a certain something from Kino that involves them getting money from the pearl or getting the physical pearl from Kino. Some of the characters also represent a lack of greed by not wanting anything out of the pearl, but just wanting to help Kino solve the pearl situation.
The pearl destroys Kino’s life. How can one object be so powerful? The Pearl is about a man named Kino with a family. Kino finds a pearl that hides his values. Kino’s greed disrupts his and shrouds his values with greed. People, Kino, and the doctor all share motivators that shape their life.
He is one of the most greedy person in this book.Kino Was perfectly fine in the beginning of the book, but then he found the pearl and turned his life upside down.Kino had a perfect relationship with his wife, but then “he struck her in the face,he cluched her with his fist and she fell among the boulders,and he kicked her in the side.Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared.He hissed at her like a snake, and Juana stared at him with wide UN frightened eyes,like a sheep before the butcher(59)”.Kino even got worse “When Juana tries to hid the pearl and Kino goes crazy and almost attacks her like a crazy man(38)”.But then there is this side of Kino when he first gets the pearl”When Kino thinks of all the things that the pearls wealth and money will do for them but not for anyone else(36)”.This is greedy because he only thinks of himself for the pearl.But Kino am greedy Most of the
Greed can turn anyone into a dangerous monster. In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl there are many examples of greed. One example would be when Kino, the main character, beats his wife over the pearl. Another example would be when Kino kills the trackers that followed him and his family though the mountains. The final example of greed would be when the doctor poisons the baby on purpose just for some money. Greed can be very destructive because of these examples from The Pearl.
‘It would be a shame to have it stolen before you could sell it,’ the doctor said” (35-36). Here, the doctor is trying to take advantage of Kino by trying to trick Kino into letting him keep the pearl “safe”. THIS SHOULD BE
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito go back to the beach and row out to an oyster bed, where he begins to search for the pearl. As Kino continues to search, Juana takes things into her own hands after being refused by the doctor and sucks the poison out of Coyotito and then puts seaweed on the wound, unknowingly healing him. Meanwhile Kino gathers several small oysters but suddenly comes across a particularly large oyster. He picks the oyster up and returns to the surface. When Kino opens the oyster he discovers the pearl. Word that the pearl has been discovered travel through the town quickly. People in the town became jealous of Kino and his family which eventually leads to a great deal of harm.
The Pearl, is a novella written by John Steinbeck. The setting of the book was a village located in the La Paz, Mexico. It is located near the Gulf of Mexico, a place where there were many fisherman. La Paz is a peaceful village with many different types people there. The main character Kino, is known as one of the villagers who is poor. Kino deeply cares for his family and wants to live a peaceful life with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito. However he is often misjudged by others and is continuously oppressed even after he finds “the pearl of the world” which could give him a huge fortune. However, many people tried to target Kino for his pearl and he lost many things that are important to him. While his personality was changing, Kino becomes more violent. Kino only became violent when his people attacked him and tried to steal his pearl.
While diving to find a pearl, Kino comes across “the Pearl of the World”, “It was as large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world.” (19) Kino dreams of the possibilities that have opened up to his family; his son would go to school, he and his wife would be properly married, they would have good clothes, and Kino would have a rifle. The next day when Kino goes to the pearl buyers to sell his pearl, the buyers try to cheat him. This angers Kino so much that he promises to travel to the “capital” to sell his pearl: “I am cheated. My pearl is not for sale here. I will go, perhaps even to the capital.” (51) The night before they are to leave, a mysterious person tries to steal the pearl from Kino. Out of desperation, Kino kills the man and hides him. Then a manhunt begins to find Kino, burning down his house in the process. Kino decides they must head north and escape to the capital that night. Half-way through their journey, Kino and Juana find that trackers are following them. “ They were as sensitive as hounds. Here, he and Juana might have stepped out of the wheel rut, and these people from the inland, these hunters, could follow, could read a broken straw or a little tumbled pile of dust.”
On page 89 it states, "He looked into its surface and it was gray and ulcerous. Evil faces peered from it into his eyes, and he saw the light of burning. And in the surface of the pearl he saw the frantic eyes of the man in the pool. In the surface of the pearl 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." In the end, Kino had finally realized that the pearl was nothing but a waste. Nothing good has come out of his journey to the rich life. He just suffered. The pearl held nothing but horrible memories. Now the pearl meant evil and
At first, the unusual pearl was a sign of hope and great wealth for the people. It could free them from all their debts. “Kino had found the Pearl of the World” (21). The pearl will let Coyotito go to school.
Kino carries fear with him and is now going through a very painful time. Kino’s values are his family and his boat as he lives peacefully and happily. The pearl has changed Kino’s behaviour and has created an animal out of him as his values change to his child’s education and money. Kino has many internal conflicts as he copes with the death of his child and the anger he has at the world. Kino has changed for the worse and it is a stone cold fact that he may never recover from his
...een stones. Let us bury it and forget the place. Let us throw it back into the sea. It had brought evil. Kino my husband, it will destroy us” (38). The pearl brought greed to the forefront of the community; everyone wanted the pearl for him or herself. Juana, who was at one time thanking God for the pearl, was now telling Kino to throw it away because the greed that it was causing woul eventually destroy them.