The corruption of wealth
One by one, many people fall by the hand of wealth. Kino, was one of those people. When Kino found the pearl, which was the wealth of his life, it changed his behavior. Not only is the corruption of wealth shown, through the change in Kino's behavior, the town, in all it's riches was shown to be bitter and greedy in contrast to the poor, happy village. It seems as though, in the story, wealth was what polluted Kino's mind, and the attitude of the town. As a result, the theme of the story is, when consumed in wealth, wealth can corrupt you.
In the story, the pearl symbolizes wealth. Kino, when he found it, was filled with hope, and the thought of the riches he would receive gave him comfort and security. But it didn't
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He woke up every morning, and sat outside to enjoy the beautiful morning sunrise, with the animals around him. When sitting with his wife to eat, they would eat in a peaceful silence. When Kino appreciated the moment, he enjoyed the little things. However, the pearl changed Kino's behavior. After he gained the wealth of the pearl, he became anxious. He didn't sleep soundly anymore, and was on constant alert. Kino actually admitted to this, when he said "everyone..." when his wife asked him who he feared (Steinbeck 36). Before the pearl, Kino was relaxed, and appreciating of the moment. Sadly, the greed for the pearl poisoned his mind. Since he was consumed in it's wealth, he was protective of it, willing to risk anything for it, letting it corrupt his lifestyle, and his mind. Nevertheless, Kino was not the only one affected by …show more content…
The town has houses made of stone built up in it's rich, city-like economy. However, none were satisfied. According to Steinbeck, the doctor, one of the people in the town, was craving a better life in France despite the riches he already had (Steinbeck 11). There were beggars in the city, whose hands itched for money, and ears itched for gossip. On the contrary, in the village made of bush houses, there was harmony between man and nature. No one had an abundance of money, until, Kino, yet they lived contently, and at peace. By and large, the town, though it was rich and prosperous, was greedy and discontent, but the village, however, was poor and humbled, yet pleased. Because the town had more, they wanted more, and they showed the corrupt side of wealth, whenever one is consumed in it.
In the final Analysis, the pearl represented wealth, and wealth can bring corruption. The riches of the pearl negatively affected Kino, making him anxious about the world around him. Also, wealth is seen as making the town, bitter, greedy, and unsatisfied. This all ties into the theme that is, when consumed in wealth, it can corrupt you. Wealth, is not a bad thing itself, but possession can bring obsession, and obsession can possess 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...
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.
One of the most common and prominent themes of The Pearl is greed. One of the first examples of this is when Kino went to the doctor to beg for treatment, but the doctor responded, "‘Has he any money?’ the doctor demanded. ‘No, they never have money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing- and I am tired of it. See if he has any money!’” (Steinbeck 11). Many would consider it unethical to refuse treatment to someone simply because of their poverty. The doctor refusing to cure the ill child shows how greed has corrupted him to the point of having an innocent baby die rather than offering up his services for free. Another early instance of greed was when the news of the pearl “came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wondered what the pearl would be worth” (Steinbeck 21). Even the people of God, those believed to have the highest morals, became materialistic. He who is supposed to be satisfied with just the love of the lord suddenly hungered for more. This greed eventually came to Kino when Juana suggested throwing away the pearl, but Kino replied, “‘No,’ he said. ‘I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We
The final character, who showed the most greed in this story, was Kino himself. One way he showed this was when he said “ This pearl is my soul. If I give it up i shall lose my soul” (p.67). This was a very greedy act by Kino because by choosing to hold onto the pearl he choose also to put his entire family at risk. And this eventually led to the death of his only son Coyotito. Another example is when Kino said “ I have it ,and I will keep it. I might have given it as a gift, but now it is my misfortune and my life and I will keep it”
Greed is an intense and selfish desire for wealth, food, or power. In its most powerful form, greed can take control of you or just have a small side affect on your personality. In The Pearl, Kino finds the most magnificent pearl he has ever seen. He becomes very emotionally attached to it and says, “The pearl has become my soul.” (Steinbeck, 65) He said this because the pearl has made him a greedy man that wants everything he can get for his family and for himself. John Steinbeck is able to demonstrate Kino’s greed through foreshadowing, characterization, and symbolism in his amazing novel, The Pearl.
At first, the pearl symbolized aa amazing providence. With the discovery of the great pearl, Kino began to have hope for Coyotito’s future and thought of the different possibilities that lead before him. However, as the town found out about ‘“the Pearl of the World”’(Steinbeck, 1947, p. 23), it began to have an injurious effect into Kino’s simplistic life (SparkNotes Editors, 2002). Juana and Kino’s brother began to seek the pearl as a threat rather than a blessing as the pearl began to symbolize and associate more materialistic desires. With Kino’s desire to acquire wealth from the pearl, he altered from a happy and content father into a savage criminal. By Kino’s demonstration of the destruction of innocence from greed and desire, the pearl soon became a symbol of human destruction. Kino’s gluttony shortly leads him to violently mistreat his wife and also to the death of his only son, Coyotito (SparkNotes Editors, 2002). SparkNotes Editors (2002) believed that his greed ultimately isolated Kino from his cultural customs and society. Overall, according to Wheeler (2008), the parable’s moral lesson was that “money cannot buy
However, the precious possession soon brings strife and evil upon the family. Thus, the pearl Kino deeply believed would fulfill their dreams makes a nightmare out of their lives. While reading The Pearl, it became clear that an ideology is present in the novel. This ideology is not very prominent, seeing as the author only hints at it sparsely. Halfway through the book, Kino recounts something that his father told him: “.each [person] must remain faithful to his post and must not go running about.”
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
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 Pearl” by John Steinbeck, the theme of “greed as a destructive force” has been shaped strongly throughout the entire book. My thesis statement is that if Kino had the ability to change himself, his life could have also been changed. As written in the book, “The sun was behind them and their long shadows stalked ahead, and they seemed to carry two towers of darkness with them.” (Steinbeck,
Readers can tell from the statement that many of the people Kino encounters after finding the pearl become bitter “friends”. At this point, Kino and Juana begin to realize that the pearl is bringing bad luck upon them. They are taken advantage of by the doctor and he decides to visit them after knowing they have the pearl. “This pearl is like a sin”(56). Juana begins to realize the pearl is bringing them bad luck, but Kino still trusts that it’s a gift. Readers can also assume that people are trying to take the pearl when Kino is suddenly attacked during the night. “Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long…”(56). Readers can now confirm that the pearl has changed and now represents evil. The pearl also begins to destroy Kino and Juana’s relationship as they have different opinions on what to do with the pearl. After Kino wakes up and follows Juana when she wakes up and walks out, readers know he has started to lose full trust in her. “He rolled up to his feet and followed her silently as she had gone” (58). Through the symbolism of the pearl and what it brings upon Kino and Juana, the author emphasizes how the pearl is not what it first appears to be, which was
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
The pearl symbolizes many different things. To Kino, at first it symbolized happiness and hope. On page 39 in chapter 3, it has stated, "So lovely it was, so soft, and its own music came from it- its music of promise and delight, its guarantee of the future, of comfort and security. Its warm lucence promised a poultice against illness and a wall against insult. It closed a door on hunger." Kino sought happiness and riches, and as he was desperate he was blind to the greed that was enveloping him. All he saw was impossible hopes and dreams in the pearl. In other words, to him, the pearl guaranteed money and the comfort of a tranquil life.
...rtly utilizes conflict throughout the narrative to illustrate the fact that greed was the cause of those conflicts. Steinbeck describes Kino as a loving man, but the pearl awakens such dark greediness in him, that he is corrupted to the point where he beat his wife to make sure the pearl is saved. This conflict with his wife is a direct result of his greediness, and his unrelenting greed leads to his son’s death. John Steinbeck is able to convey the theme that insatiable greed is the precursor to agonizing misery, through the use of various elements of fiction that include characterization, symbolism and conflict. Through these elements of fiction, Steinbeck creates a dark, tragic story that warns of the consequences of greed in a world where everyone is looking out for themselves and their capacity for evil and greed is far outweighs their capacity for benevolence.
When Kino finds the pearl he is shocked. " It was as large as a seagull's egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world" (Steinbeck 19).Kino and Juana revel in the excitement thatsurrounds Kino's finding the pearl, but their happiness soon turns to distrust. The pearl buyers, whoKino has to sell the pearls to in order to make a profit, try to cheat him. They tell him that the