Over the past fifty years, the Amazon rainforest has lost around twenty percent of its ecosystem due to large industries deforesting the habitat for profit from natural resources, agricultural land, and space in order to build roads. Kino and his fellow villagers are given near nothing and must find ways to survive. That is why, when Kino comes across the pearl and its many benefits, he becomes obsessed and acts in ways he would not have prior to the discovery, such as endangering his family, murdering someone, and becoming reckless. The deforestation of the Amazon and Kino transforming into a worse person are true examples of how greed is a destructive force. Kino was able to visualize a future in the pearl where he would be marrying his wife, giving his son an education, and obtaining a rifle. Although at the start of the novella, Kino can see only positives, and the pearl itself symbolizes hope, towards the end, he is able to realize that the pearl was dangerous and that it actually symbolizes an illusion of happiness. The pearl ties into the theme based on the destruction of multiple objects that belonged to Kino and his family, Kino killing people, and Kino turning into a greedy person. …show more content…
Even though the natives do not own many things that are expensive, the items that they do own are very valuable to them. That is why the loss of a personal item, such as Kino’s house and canoe, can drastically affect a villager’s life. “The canoe of his grandfather, plastered over and over, and a splintered hole broke in it. This was evil beyond thinking.”(Steinbeck 62). The canoe being broken not only signified the loss of their food source and tradition, it also affected them the moment they discovered the hole. Now that the canoe was broken, they could escape the village, where they would soon be