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Essays from the novel the pearl
How greed is exposed in the pearl by John Steinbeck
Nature of poverty in the novel of the pearl
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Recommended: Essays from the novel the pearl
The Pearl is a novel written by John Steinbeck. This novel illustrates many messages, but the most profound message would be of greed. Greed had seemed to be the focal point of the story, and it enabled the reader to reach a moral message and understanding of the dangers that greed play in human life. When asked to analyze the quote by Mahatma Gandhi, which says, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed”. This quote resonates with the message of the novel and allows us to dive deeper into the story and message it presents.
When examining the quote, I came to an understanding that the quote means that the earth provides mankind with everything we need, but does not provide us with everything we want. Human beings are selfish, and this selfishness destroys any type of contentment we can truly hold. No matter how much a human being obtains, he will always attempt to obtain more. Goals and dreams
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For that reason, we will never be able to properly be completely okay with what we were provided with. Although the world provides every human with everything they will need. Most of the mankind doesn’t see things like that and believe what they want is what they need. This illusion causes an unattainable idea of contentment and destroys the reality of necessity and desire.
The Pearl shows a good example of greed, not only from Kino but his whole town. To even explain how destructive greed can make us, we can look deeper into the character development of the doctor. At first, the doctor refused to help Kino’s son because of their race and poor status. Without the money, the doctor refuses to treat the infant son, Coyotito. After Kino finds the pearl, the doctor realizes how much money Kino is truly worth. So, he decides to treat the Coyotito. Instead of treating him and curing him, he poisons him hoping Kino gives him more money to treat the Coyotito again. Even though the doctor only needed his normal
Kino found one of the most valuable and precious pearls in the world and being convinced of its worth was not going to be cheated by only minimally upgrading his condition of life. Instead he wanted to break the fixed life and role that he and his family had and always would live. Kino refuses the maximum offer of fifteen hundred pesos that would easily ease his and his family’s pain and suffering for the coming months. Kino is then determined to trek to the capital to find a fair and just offer. Kino continues determined through the mountains after an attempt at the pearl, his canoe destroyed and his hut set a blaze. Continuing to put his family’s life on the line. It eventually takes the death of his beloved son Coyotito to make him realize he needs to stop being so greedy, no matter how hard he tries and to shut his mouth and know his role.
On page 30, the doctor gives the illusion to Kino and Juana that he had cured Coyotito, despite only making him more ill. This mask of ignorance is put over their eyes so that the doctor can rob
Throughout The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the themes of greed and prejudice are greatly expressed, from the beginning with the unjust doctor to the suspenseful end of the supposed ‘Pearl of the World.’ It is amazing, that even in a timeless story as this one, these harsh realities still haunt their world. It could take place yesterday, today, or tomorrow, but the point is that one cannot revert the world to one way of thinking, that is why greed and prejudice still exist. One can try as hard as they want but there are going to be those who are stubborn, of hard will, and those who believe their thoughts are right. I want to show that these themes go far beyond this parable and apply to the world we live in.
...thing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content with that.”
This to most is the goal, what is strived for to achieve in the span of a lifetime, but for those who have and those who seek to have, the perspective greatly differs. To the lower class citizens of the world, what more could one want than to have achieved the pinnacle of wealth. A person no longer wants for anything, one simply has and can have more. The epitome of contentment and endless possibilities. This is not the case however for those in the position of having such means. Gill uses the quote “When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were no worlds to conquer.” in comparison to the life of people suffering from perfection anxiety. To make having everything possible, one most no longer have anything left to obtain. Without a goal or an ambition to strive for there is a prominent lack of purpose to one’s life, painting a rather depthless view of the inside life of the incredibly
In the modern world, people posses more than what they can actually keep tract of physically and mentally. Everyone wants to live the “good life” where they can have no limits to the things they want. Whether it is clothes, cars, jewelry, or houses, the need to buy things that are affordable and are in style preoccupies the minds of many people. The argument for necessity goes against this way of modern living, but agrees with Thoreau's view on it. The argument is that people should have enough of each just ...
In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. Evil was exhibited by the doctor who refused to treat Coyotito because his parents had no money. When the doctor heard of Kino and Juana's fortune in finding "the pearl of the world" (722), he boasted that they were patients of his while thinking of a better life for himself in Paris. Coyotito was healed when the doctor finally came to their straw hut. He deceived Kino by giving the baby a white powder that made him go into convulsions. An hour later he came and gave Coyotito the remedy and immediately wanted to know when he was getting paid. The evil in the pearl had reached the heart of the doctor. The pearl's evil did not restrict itself to infecting Kino's peers; it also affected Kino himself. He wanted to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's standard of living. He had dreams and goals that all depended on the pearl.
...helter, food, clothing, and fuel for survival. The Market Revolution in the 19th century changed the mindset of copious individuals about their essential needs. With new innovations that make goods cheaper and easily obtainable, people's greed for more possessions grew. However, the incessant growth of one's desires make the individual a "slave" of their desires because they devote their time in earning money to acquire more, thus losing their freedom. Henry David Thoreau agreed that people enslaved themselves to materialistic possessions and often they forget the genuine meaning of living. Faced with the choice of increasing one’s ability to acquire more goods and decreasing one’s needs, Thoreau believed that minimizing one’s desire will lead to favorable account as individuals gain the chance to enjoy the meaning of life and welcome what nature provide them with.
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
When the doctor gets word that Kino has found the pearl he quickly rushes to their house to care for Coyotito after first turning them away. The doctor decides to help Coyotito because he realizes they now can afford to pay him which makes him start to recall the luxurious life he once lived while in Paris. This shows that the doctor does not care about helping Coyotito; he is merely interested in getting paid so he can live like he once did. The doctor is a good examp...
After Kino found his great pearl bad things started happening, Kino and Juana's lives were in trouble. Two men notified in the book as the "dark ones" tried to steal the pearl, luckily Kino had been prepared and got rid of the enemies but that was not the end of the misery. Coyotito got very sick and the Doctor had deliberately made things worse. When it was time to sell the pearl, the buyers offered prices that Kino thought were too low. Kino was angry with the pearl buyers for what they had said. "I will not make an offer at all. I do not want it. This is not a pearl - it is a monstrosity." Kino got angry and decided he wanted to go elsewhere and find a buyer for the pe...
This emphasizes the irony of the story because Kino’s goal of Coyotito going to school was now unachievable. As a result what has happened to Coyotito and obtaining the rifle in that process could have been avoided if Kino was to accept the final offer of the pearl, other than seeking for more than what was
One example of this universal theme of humanity’s struggle with greed occurred in this novel when the doctor pretended to treat Coyotito for something that he did not have. It all started when a scorpion stung Coyotito. Kino and Juana’s only hope was the doctor, however, he refused to treat Coyotito because they were poor and they had nothing of value to pay for his services. Not long after this, Kino went to search for a good pearl in order to pay the doctor to treat his son. Kino found “the pearl of the world;” Juana and Kino were overjoyed. Once the doctor heard of this fine pearl, he rushed over to Kino’s hut to treat the sick baby by telling Kino a lie. The doctor’s excuse for not treating Coyotito sooner was, “ I was not in when you came this morning. But now at first chance, I have ...
For example, the doctor wants to get rich by the pearl, so he i svery greedy for and obsessed with it. He only treats Coyotito when Kino has the pearl to pay for the treatment, and he poisons Coyotito to gain more money as well. After this, Kino is pressured to get the money from the pearl to pay him for the treatment on time. “Tomorrow I will sell it”, Kino promises, “and then I will pay you.” (35) This builds up a lot of pressure for him to reach the capital and causes Kino to fail reaching the capital. During his journey, Kino envisions all of the terrible things the pearl does to him and his family, and he tells himself he will break the promise made to the doctor. These negative thoughts influence Kino to not reach the capital, and not to sell the pearl, and therefore not to find money to pay him back. Therefore, the doctor does not receive as much pay. the same goes for the other townspeople. The townspeople lay a lot of pressure on Kino and, therefore, lead to his and their
pearl is so big that it has no value. Kino has to hide the pearl, but while he sleeps a thief tries to steal it. The doctor who would not treat Coyotito's scorpion bite when they had no money now comes to them offering the best medical care he can provide.As the story of Kino's situation unfolds, Kino is forced to kill three men, and worst of all, Kino accidentally shoots Coyotito in the head while he is trying to shoot his pursuers. Finally, at Juana's urging, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. He has made nothing from his fin...