What Does Steinbeck Represent Greed

In John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, he conveys that wealth can corrupt and change by displaying how the pearl changes the lives Kino, Juana, and Coyotito, leads to their downfall and how it also affects the town of La Paz.

In order to sell his pearl for the highest price possible, Kino was forced to go to the capital. This was due to being cheated by the local pearl buyers. “I have been cheated,” Kino cried fiercely. “My pearl is not for sale here. I will go perhaps even to the capital.” By doing so, Kino wasn’t only risking a long journey, but also putting his family in harm’s

Greed is perhaps one of the most destructive forces in this world, it breeds anger, hate, jealousy, and more. The novella “The Pearl” is based on how the finding of a pearl causes greed to be awakened in the hearts of people and cause them to commit evil. During the Novella, Steinbeck develops the theme that greed left unchecked can cause immoral behavior and that is show in the doctor, the attackers, and Kino. All of them are forced by greed to commit sins that they otherwise would not do.

In the book they gang up on Kino to lower the price of the pearl. They all agree to act like the pearl isn't worth anything but then offer a price that they think Kino will think is good for him but it actually is nothing near the price it is worth. They are effected by the greed heavily because the sell the pearls for even more than they by to make a profit but that they would cheat this man with a family that is very poor shows that they do not have good values and that they are willing to take away from this man just for

“When you can no longer feel the life that you are, you are likely to try to fill up your life with things.” This quote from an unknown source explains that when a person receives something, they may think that it is the best thing they have ever found, but all it really does is make you do bad things which have major consequences. In the novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck, a poor fisherman named Kino finds the pearl of the world -- a pearl the size of a seagull's egg that is the biggest pearl anyone has ever found, only for it to destroy him and his family. Kino, having found a great pearl, is determined to get money and buy a rifle. He also wants to put Coyotito, his son, in school to get a good education.

Kino wanted to to get rid of the pearl since he needs money for his family. But the no one would buy it for the amount he wanted so he left with the pearl. Kino’s family had to leave town because the dealer didn’t get the pearl so they went after the family. Even when Kino’s family was in danger he would not give up the pearl, even though Juana doesn’t care about the money, she just wants a happy family before Kino found the pearl. Kino’s greed got so worse that they had to leave town, leave no trace and had to hide from the town members they lived with for years because of a single pearl.

The pearl’s meaning to different members of the community is evil, jealousy, and freedom. During the novel, the community was thinking how much money is Kino going to get the pearl for and most of the community was jealous of how much money he’ll get. People think he’ll treat them differently with the money but not when Kino was poor as them. The pearl buyers were telling Kino that the pearl wasn’t actually a pearl it was like fools gold. Kino made a huge fit about and didn’t take an offer as well as the pearl buyers telling Kino “any pearl buyer will tell you the same thing as one of us here.” At the end of the novel, one person attacked Kino when he was down after hitting Juana. He killed the person who attacked him but was hunted by his friends. One of their friends killed their little child Coyotito and now Kino and Juana have to live somewhere else think of that memory of their first kid in their

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck a presented idea is that greediness and power corrupt the best of men. The reader learns that greed and power are not a perfect couple, or even a decent one. The author continues to develop an elaborate story based upon the principles of human fault and wrongdoing.

Greed is a desire for something or selfishness and is not a favorable characteristic to possess. Greed is depicted many ways throughout the novel The Pearl through the main character Kino, a poverty-stricken brush house Indian who finds “the pearl of the world” while pearl diving. Greed changed Kino mentally and changed his life. Kino's greed reshaped his family, Juana and Coyotito, his wife and baby, and destroys their lives as well. Kino tries to throw his desirous ways away, yet greed cannot just walk out of his life in a simple way, it must take everything important to him first.

In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, a young man named Kino, his wife, Juana, and their infant child, Coyotito, find a pearl so magnificent that many people will attack Kino to get it. The pearl causes Kino to be overcome with greed and desire and brings misfortune upon him and his family.

The Pearl shows a simple idea of how money is not always everything. In the novella the protagonist and the antagonist show how money can never bring you so far. Kino started off with a humble life with a small yet growing family. He had Coyotito and Juana by his side, and the “song of family” whispering in his ears. “and the sound of breakfast, but those were other songs, their pigs were other pigs, their wives were not Juana.” (Steinbeck 3) In the phrase it showed that he had a certain amount of affection towards Juana stating she was his wife and his alone. But when he got his pearl, he started to grow corrupt, at one point hitting Juana and kicking her, and at a another killing a man. In the end even with the money he was supposed to earn

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).

First, in the beginning of the story, Steinbeck displays and sets up Kino’s initial good-willed desires that soon develops into greed that harms his loved ones. When initially obtained, the pearl that Kino found sparked hope for him and his family, but it soon lured unwanted intruders into his home, scaring Juana, Kino’s wife. As Kino says, “‘Do not speak any more. In the morning we will sell the pearl, and then the evil will be gone, and only the good remain’” to Juana, he dismisses her fear of danger to come on the basis of soon-to-be-false hope (Steinbeck 39). Kino’s initial good intentions make way for the upcoming troubles to come.

He imagined a better life for his family. Despite everything that went wrong, despite people telling him to throw the pearl away, Kino continued to believe in the value and importance of the pearl. Early on Juana tried to convince Kino to get rid of the pearl, “‘This pearl is a sin! It will destroy us,’ and her voice rose shrilly ‘ throw it away.’”(John Steinbeck 38). Kino would have ordinarily taken into consideration his wife’s concerns and this was out of character. While under the spell of the pearl, It didn’t matter to him that Juana had his best interest in mind when she advised him to get rid of the pearl. Even after Kino was attacked, he was unwavering in his conviction in the value of the pearl, “but Kino’s face was set, and his will was set” Kino was given many chances to throw away the pearl, but yet he was stubborn and continued to believe in the pearl even though his world was falling apart and even though he could lose

In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, one of the themes is greed, because of the way Kino was possessive of the pearl and how the town all wanted possession of the pearl. Greed is an unavoidable, universal human characteristic. No matter how much you may hide it, you always have a voice in the back of your head saying “I want it.” Greed is the feeling you get when someone has something you want, and you will take extreme measure to get it. Sadly greed is not the best emotion, greed can often drive people crazy and it almost always never ends well for the participating parties. Throughout The Pearl, all of the characters have shown some sign of greed because of this it is one of the themes of this book.