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 type of greed that the Doctor represents is him wanting to take advantage of Kino to get the pearl or get money out of the pearl by saying, “It is as I thought. The poison has gone inward and it will strike soon. Come look!” He held the eyelid down, “See— it is blue”. He is able to say these lies to Kino because Kino is uneducated and doesn’t know any better to tell if the Doctor is lying or telling the truth. The doctor also tries to take advantage of Kino by pretending he doesn’t know about the pearl. After the Doctor finishes healing Coyotitio he asks Kino when he would be able to pay him for …show more content…
He represents a lack of greed because instead of him trying to steal the pearl from Kino, the whole time Juan Tomas is trying to help Kino with the pearl situation, and he is protecting Kino and his family from anyone who wants to take advantage of Kino and steal the pearl. Juan Tomas tries helping Kino by making sure he gets the best deal for the pearl and he says, “You must be careful to see they do not cheat you”. Another way that Juan Tomas represents a lack of greed in the pearl situation is that he takes Kino and his family into his home to hide and be safe from the other people so that Kino can come up with a plan to escape from the town and deal with the pearl without having to worry 24/7 if someone is going to steal it from them. These reasons are why Juan Tomas is a good example of someone who represents a lack of greed towards Kino and the
In John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl, the village of La Paz is alive with greed. Everyone wants something from the main character, Kino. The doctor wants money for treating Kino's baby. The priest wanted money to fix the church. The townspeople also wanted money. The village is over come by evil from this one man's good fortune. The doctor’s greed over money is revealed when he would not treat Kino's baby because Kino had nothing to pay him with. When the doctor heard of Kino's sudden wealth, he said Kino was his client. The Pearl and its fortune transformed the town into something full of continual desire and jealousy. Everyone was affected and wanted something from the p...
Greed also influenced many of the decisions that characters have formulated throughout the book. For example, Jerry Cruncher chose to become a grave digger for the profit gotten from it, which caused many problems in his family. When Jerry Jr. follows his father into the night he witnesses his father committing a horrifying crime that he, “Knew very well knew what it would be; but, when he saw it, and saw his honoured parent about to wrench it open, he was so frightened, being new to the sight, that he made off again, and never stopped until he had run a mile or more” (Dickens 184). Had Jerry not been so acquisitive, he would most likely have chosen not to go into that profession. This would prevent Jerry Jr. from being scarred by his father's bad decisions and possibly decrease Jerry’s drinking due to guilt he has after grave digging. Additionally, when C.J. Stryver proposes to Lucie, his motive for it blossoms from greed. While explaining to Carton why he has decided to do this, Stryver admits, "I don't care about fortune: she is a charming creature, and I have made up my mind to please myself: on the whole, I think I can afford to please myself. She will have in me a man already pretty well off, and a
In Pearl Tull’s old age, she starts to lose her sight until she is completely unable to see. Pearl may be the only one within Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant who has gone literally blind, but many of the characters are just as blind emotionally. Throughout Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, many characters are too absorbed in their own problems and self-pity to notice the problems of the people around them. Almost all of the characters don’t realize how much their actions may have affected someone else, or are oblivious to the fact they did anything at all. When taking a closer look at the story, it could be said that Pearl Tull is the reason behind all of her family’s problems. Pearl is blind not only literally—in her old age—but metaphorically
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.
The pearl caused that greed and should therefore be thrown away. Kino looked from me to the baby, “I was being cheated. I knew I could sell it for more money.” “Well how do you explain your behavior the morning I tried to throw away the pearl?” I asked, remembering the sharp pain of his clenched fist making contact with my jaw.
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
The Medieval times was an age of ignorance, encompassing a long span of years in where people were placed in classes ranging from clergy being the highest to serfs being the lowest, education was only limited to noblemen and was strictly prohibited to women, and poverty was orderly. In the movie, First Knight, many of the problems in Medieval times are portrayed accurately. Empires immense hunger for land, inequitable enforcement of laws, and Religion are some of many issues during the time period represented in the First Knight.
In chapter 5, Kino performed an act of protective violence and murdered a man who attempted to attack him. In order to keep Kino safe, Juan Tomas acted with a sense of loyalty and protected Kino by providing him with shelter in his home. I believe that this act of righteousness was an accurate representation of trust and that Juan Tomas made the correct decision in doing this. I think this because it only seems right that Kino be assisted by his family when he is in an innocent situation. I feel that Juan Tomas has performed a superior act of protection for his family because family, as explained earlier, is one of the most important factors in a character’s life.
To begin with, we see that the doctor is one of the main characters of greed. The doctor’s personality throughout the book is selfish and especially greedy. This doctor is like no other other doctor, he is the exact opposite of what people would expect a doctor to be like. He only cares about is himself. This is shown when he says, “Has he any money” the doctor demanded “no,they never have any
He is driven by greed, so much so that he could even see dreams form in the pearl. Kino is the head of a modest household and until he finds the pearl he lives a satisfied life with all he needs for his family to be happy. As soon as Kino finds the pearl he starts to want possessions he never wanted before. He dreams of education for Coyotito, marrying Juana in a Catholic church, purchasing new clothing for his family, and getting a harpoon and a rifle for himself. “It was the rifle that broke down the barriers . . . for it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more” (Steinbeck 32). Located within a small poverty-stricken community, a pearl diver named Kino finds “the Pearl of the World” and becomes suddenly rich, he begins to want items that he thought were impossible before. As Kino thinks more and more of what the pearl can do for him, he starts to think that it will raise his social status as well. This is only the beginning of Kino’s greediness, for the more he gets, the more he will want, and this begins to dehumanize him. Kino focuses on the wealth of the pearl and causes him to change his values about life. In the beginning, Kino is only focused on his family, once Kino finds the pearl he becomes more focused on the pearl, rather than his family. Kino cares a lot more about losing the pearl rather than something bad happening to his loved
In the beginning, Kino is tricked by how the pearl buyer looks and seems like a nice person. “His face was fatherly and benign, and his eyes twinkled with friendship”.(47) Readers can tell that the pearl buyer has a good first impression on Kino. In addition it mentions how the pearl buyer was a caller of good mornings. “He was a caller of good mornings”(47). The author begins to personify the pearl buyer, and from what the author says, the pearl buyer seems like a nice person. “His eyes become wet with sorrow for your loss”(47). From this impression the author gives, the readers can tell he seems to be caring, but can also assume he’s sneaky enough to pretend to care. After Kino presents his pearl dramatically and the pearl buyer begins to judge it, he realizes he’s being tricked. When he tells Kino his pearl isn’t worth much “His shoulders rose a little to indicate that the misfortune was no fault of his”(49). Readers can tell from the personification of his actions that he’s trying to trick Kino and Juana into thinking the pearl isn’t worth much for his own benefit. During Kino’s whole visit, the pearl buyer was also playing with a coin. The coin also symbolizes the buyer’s sneakiness. “And the fingers of his right hand worked faster and faster” (48). In addition, he begins to practice his legerdemain again when he tricks Kino into thinking there’s more than one buyer. “Right hand went behind the desk
For example, when Juana argues with Kino about the pearl, she tells Kino, “The pearl is like a sin” (38). The pearl is compared to a sin using a simile and reveals how Juana truly feels about the pearl as it connotes evil, envy, and greed. This supports the fact that the pearl converts Kino and that it isn’t benevolent. In addition, when Juan Tomas tells Kino to leave the pearl, Kino tells Juan, “The pearl has become my soul” (67). Kino is shown to have an obsession with the pearl and that it controls him. His commitment to the pearl connotes obsession, delusion, and compulsion. The pearl and it’s hold on Kino is why he is dehumanized as the book progresses
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...
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