Theme Of Greed And Power In John Steinbeck's The Pearl

“The Pearl” by John Steinbeck, truly has a great example to the life lesson on greed. A family destroyed and a culture distressed is what one can see in the short story, “The Pearl.” Greed plays an important role in the lesson of “The Pearl,” in which John Steinbeck uses imagery and foreshadowing to highlight this theme and he utilizes personification and similes/metaphors to explain the theme easily.

In the beginning, Kino was encapsulated in his dreams and put his family at risk several times to try to fulfill the destiny contained in the pearl. In the middle of the story, Kino took many chances and was unconcerned about how it would affect his family, and in the end, Kino’s actions caused him to lose his entire life. Slowly the pearl killed him inside, though Kino was not attentive to see.This novel portrays how desire over family can cause chaos. Just like in the myth of King Midas, his greed for gold overpowered his family, so when he lost everything he was helpless. In conclusion, Kino, who was once a regular native, changed his entire life just to follow him imagination of the wealth a pearl could

The Pearl relates to post-colonial criticism because the book displays many different cultures and views of the world. Throughout all chapters, there is a distinct separation between the brush huts and stone and plaster city, the doctor’s wants, and the wages. Not just physical appearance, but the brush houses and city are extremely different, as well as the doctor’s greediness, and the way of income done by the poor versus the rich.

Is it always reasonable to blame the person who directly pulled the trigger to kill someone of being the sole reason of the victim’s death? Or is it more reasonable to investigate deeper into the events surrounding the homicide? This is one of the several debatable prompts John Steinbeck poses to the reader at the end of his novella The Pearl. The general context of this issue is that a pearl diver named Kino, native to and living in Baja California, finds a magnificent pearl, as perfect as “the moon… It was as large as a sea-gull’s egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world” (Steinbeck 10). The news of his good fortune spreads, attracting curious neighbors, but also the prying eyes of envious people, such as the local priest, doctor, and the pearl buyers. And when these people try to scam and then steal Kino’s pearl, Kino decides take his wife, Juana, and his infant child, Coyotito, and leave his village to go to the capital, in search of more honest people to sell his pearl to. But not far into his journey, a terrible tragedy takes place, as Coyotito is shot in head by “the trackers” who were hired to find and steal Kino’s pearl by the pearl buyers. Now, here, is where the question is posed, and different readers have opposing opinions. Numerous readers jump the gun and condemn the trackers for murdering Coyotito in cold blood, but if the reader makes their decision after examining and investigating the fundamental reason for the tragedy, it comes to light that Kino takes

“Kino could see Juana in a shawl, stiff with newness and a new skirt, he could see himself dressed in new white clothes with a new hat, holding a new harpoon better than the one he had previously broken. He could see Coyotito, he wore a blue sailor suit from the United States and a little yachting cap, these are all things he wanted, that he could now have.” Kino states everything he wants and can now get in life which makes him more arrogant, leading him on a path of destruction. This also gives Kino something to look back on after it's too late. “In the moonlight he could see the frantic, frightened eyes, and Kino aimed and fired between the eyes. Suddenly he heard the keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry from the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death. He hastily scaled the mountain and entered the cave to bear the sight of a small limp heavy bundle. The shawl was dried with blood, and the bundle swayed a little swayed a little as it was held.” Kino has sacrificed the one thing he cares most in the world about for a simple pearl which again proves the point that Kino is truly a tragic hero. Kino believes that if he can come out safely with both his family and the pearl intact that he can live happily ever after, but with the pearl comes evil and death. Later in the novel when Kino is forced to choose between his family and

Many people in the world today grow crazy and mad when surrounded by even the slightest bit of wealth and good fortune. Even a strong person who recognizes their priorities can still become corrupt with too much power. There is no better example of a person falling into the path of evil and corruption than in a novel written by John Steinbeck. In the novel The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the author writes about a poor Indian man named Kino who becomes corrupt from the wealth of a magnificent pearl. Steinbeck uses the motifs of music, light and dark imagery, and values to develop the theme that good fortune, wealth, and prosperity steer even the most innocent of people towards a path of evil and corruption. The reader learns that one

Although Kino performed many heroic acts, he also acted foolishly in various circumstances. He lives with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito. The novel tells his story when he happens to find a large pearl in the beach that has the capacity to either bring him death or happiness. After finding this big pearl, he believes that this is going to the beginning of a new chapter for him and his family because poverty was eventually going to leave them. His foolishness was first seen when he announced the pearl that he had found making everyone to try to steal it from him. Knowing the worth of the pearl, he should have kept the information to himself and sold it later. After seeing what people were able to do to him because of the pearl, he should have just sold it at the price the buyers said because it eventually led to the death of his son. The buyers only referred to it as a ‘fool’s gold’ and that it was not worth anything. Kino’s greed put his family in danger and caused the death of his only son. Even after he was convinced that the pearl was evil by his wife, he says, "The pearl has become my soul. If I shall give it up, I

Kino poses the characteristic of self-pride, which eventually brings him and his family down. ". . . I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We will have our chance. His fist pounded the sleeping mat. No one shall take our good fortune from us. . ." Kino has letten the pearl take control over his life, which is indeed tragic because this beautiful and perfect rounded pearl destroys the most valuable thing that kino owns which is his family, however, as kino has let the pearl take over his life, he no longer sees his family as his most valuable posecion, but the pearl.

Kino’s attempts to sell the pearl are unsuccessful, and he is mysteriously attacked. Kino beats Juana for attempting to discard the pearl. Kino kills a man who attacks him for his pearl, an event that exposes the tension surrounding this object as a person of great evil as well as a chance for salvation. When his human nature comes into effect and tries to do what he can to help himself and his family. He found the pearl and greed take over him and has conflicts with everyone and everything including himself.

In the novella “The Pearl” Kino’s view towards what the pearl could offer him changed throughout the story, altering Kino’s thoughts and means in a malignant way, transforming him from a loving father to a bloodthirsty man. Kino’s addiction towards the pearl cost him to lose himself and get carried away from what he had first in mind, to provide for his family, nonetheless it isn't until the end that Kino finally learns that the pearl was truly evil and all the misfortunes it had cost him, one of them including losing his son, Coyotito. “He looked into its surface and it was gray and ulcerous, like a malignant growth” (89) Accepting the pearl for what it legitimately was, Kino comes to his senses after arriving back home. Deciding to fling the pearl into the sea, Kino lets go of the past of which he had first said was a part of his soul, but now it was only but an object of tragedy and misguidance. Therefore though conviction can sometimes be pleasing, in this case Kino’s faith was put in the wrong

In The Pearl written by John, not only is Kino the main character, and cause of all the tragic events that happen throughout the book, but the pearl also was a reasonable cause. Kino only becomes greedy and violent because of the pearl. Although the pearl caused most of these abrupt beings, Kino could have stopped himself and his actions that caused so much pain. Kino and the pearl brought many aggressive and emotion changing events in La Paz, but Kino never stopped himself when he had the choice to.

Some of the famous books John Steinbeck wrote included the books called “OF Mice and Men”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, and “The Pearl”. John Steinbeck is considered America’s greatest author, widely attributed to be part of the American literary canon, is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece. Within the 75 years it has been published it has sold 14 million copies.

The pearl's evil infects Kino like a ravaged disease and consumes his mind. He starts off with good intentions, but they become twisted. He wants to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's lifestyle. He has dreams and goals that each depends on the pearl selling for a good price. Juana sensing the evil and greed coming from Kino attempts to destroy it. Kino beats her unmercifully. "He struck her in the face and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...He hissed at her like a snake and she stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before a butcher." Juana sees through the outer beauty of the pearl and knew it would destroy Kino and herself. Kino's vision from the soul becomes blurred by the possible prosperity the pearl will bring. The evil invades Kino's life as well as everyone he knows and loves.

Another example of greed is shown when Juana takes the pearl from Kino to throw back into the sea. Kino realizes what she is doing and goes after her. Just as Juana is about to discard the pearl, Kino grabs her arm and wrenches the pearl from her. He punches her in the face and when she falls on the boulders, he kicks her in the side. The following quote establishes the violence that Kino unleases on his wife in order to protect his precious pearl from harm, due to his greediness of what the pearl will bring to him and his family: “…Rage surged in Kino. He leaped at Juana and wrenched the pearl from her…with clenched fists, struck her in the face…kicked her in the side…Greedy fingers went through his clothes” (58-59).

Kino had a great simple life with a strong familial bond and the infinite tranquility of not having to worry about not having enough. That is all you really need in life, but after he finds the Pearl on a desperate mission to save his son, he cannot help but imagine what he will gain. He imagines a weapon, which brings only death naturally, and other things that he could do without. With this imagination of his, he is blinded by what is really important, his family. Kino is thrown of his simple life by the thought of wealth even though he does not need the wants in the first place. Attempting to rise aboves one station never ends