How Does Steinbeck Characterize Kino's Greed

Greed is an intense and selfish desire for wealth, food, or power. In its most powerful form, greed can take control of you or just have a small side affect on your personality. In The Pearl, Kino finds the most magnificent pearl he has ever seen. He becomes very emotionally attached to it and says, “The pearl has become my soul.” (Steinbeck, 65) He said this because the pearl has made him a greedy man that wants everything he can get for his family and for himself. John Steinbeck is able to demonstrate Kino’s greed through foreshadowing, characterization, and symbolism in his amazing novel, The Pearl.

To begin, foreshadowing is shown very well throughout the entire book. It is a warning or indication for what will come. For example, after Kino had found “the

One form of symbolism is when the pearl changed colors from the beginning to the end of the book. In the beginning, the pearl was described as “perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence.” (Steinbeck, 20) However, at near the end of the book, the pearl was described as “ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth.” (Steinbeck, 86) This means that the pearl’s evil grew out of control and invaded Kino’s body like a disease. The author is telling the reader that at the end of the novel, the pearl has drained out all of it’s evil. Another form of symbolism is the songs Kino hears in his head. There were songs, such as the song of the family or the song of evil, that would show the reader what the character was thinking about and feeling dread or delight. Before the first evil that the pearl brought into Kino and Juana’s lives, he began to hear the songs again. In the book, it read, “darkness spread over the page, and with darkness came the music of evil again.” (Steinbeck, 36) From that point on, Kino would always hear that song when the pearl brought them