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The Pearl By John Steinbeck: Quote Analysis

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Christian Balderas

English Honors 2

10/24/15

Center 2: Writing

“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts...Perhaps the fear of a loss of power.”-John Steinbeck

Many believe that the amount of power is what corrupts. The amount of power might make you think that you need more to so that you can secure it. It makes a person greedy, and it makes them do unspeakable things. The following quote says a little different. It says that fear corrupts people, because they are afraid that someone will take the authority they have. So in order to keep it safe, they take more so they look like the superior. I agree with what this quote is saying now that I think of it, in history, the French King Philip the IV, killed as many Templar Knights in to secure his power. In the book “The Pearl,” Kino hid the pearl because he was afraid someone would steal his pearl. He feared someone was going to take it. A universal theme that could connect to this maybe greed and corruption.

One way this quote could connect to history is when the French King Philip the IV was in need of money to fund his war. He asked money from the Order of the Knights Templar, an order that was made to protect the Holy Lands, and later on, they created the system of banking. The Knights Templar gave the king the money, but must be gives back to them in a few years. …show more content…

He hides it whenever people come close to him. When his brother Tomas asked him what he would do now that he was a rich man, Kino started to list a lot of things. He said that he and Juna would get married, he would have better clothes, he would get a gun, and he his son would go to school. The gun shows that he wants to protect himself and his family, but he really wants to protect his knew power that he has because of the pearl. This represents that he wants to protect his power that he has, and protects it out of fear something would happen to

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