“Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over you”. This quote describes how money and “stuff” can’t bring happiness. This is a story about a local fisherman named Kino who must team up with Juana, his wife, and Coyotito, his son, to overcome greed and jealousy and all people infected by it. The symbols, including the pearl, the town members and even Kino himself, represent greed and anger. So, In The Pearl by John Steinbeck develops the theme “greed and materialism can lead to immoral behavior like violence” through Kino’s infatuation with his pearl.
Something noticed is, The Pearl goes through many changes throughout the story and by the end it can only be described, as Elvis would say, “a devil in disguise.” They say that money is the root of all evil. Which is wrong. The root of all evil is the love of money. The love of money is an incurable sickness, nay, and epidemic instantly
…show more content…
Greed is constantly referenced and shown in all characters, except, Juana and Coyotito. Those two are the ones that receive the most pain throughout the book. Greed goes hand-in-hand with Shakespeare's’ “Green-eyed Monster”, Jealousy. These two things are what set this book in motion wealth is a chink in morality, that is when greed and jealousy infect and destroy. It says “Some ancient thing stirred Kino. Through his fear of dark and the devils that haunt the night…”(69). Those devils are Greed and Jealousy. Those two devils take control in one little chink, more common than the oxygen in our atmosphere, worse than torture. It also says “Kino stirred in a dream, and he cried out in a guttural voice, and his hand moved in symbolic fighting.” (72) This could be symbolism of an inner conflict like a deep set resistance in Kino, a part of him that knows where this is going. An inner battle against the pearl and its almost inhuman ability to act on its