The Pearl Greed Quotes

In the novella, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, the main character is an Indian man named Kino who lives in a small village by the sea. He and his race are poor and oppressed, one day Kino is pearl diving and finds the pearl of the world. He challenges society and refuses to become cheated out of getting wealth from it. He has good intentions; However, his materialistic obsession leads to the death of loved ones and chaos in the community and within his family. One of the morals of this story is that materialism and greed left unchecked can lead to immoral and violent behavior. In the beginning of the story, we meet a doctor full of greed. Coyotito, the infant son of Kino and Juana, has been stung by a scorpion. Then, Kino and Juana go to the doctor 's house to seek treatment. A detail Steinbeck employed in this passage about the greed the doctor has is as follows, “Has he any money?’ the doctor demanded, ‘No, they never have any money. I, I alone in the world am supposed to work for nothing - and I am tired of it” (11) This passage shows the reader how this doctor refuses to treat Coyotito because he is Indian and

The stranger attacks Kino in an attempt to find the pearl and steal it. Kino’s actions are described as follows, “His right hand went into his shirt and felt his knife… he stood up and walked to the doorway” (55) Kino is attacked and Steinbeck tells the reader how Juana reacts. “Kino lay on the ground, struggling to ride… Juana dropped her stone, and she put her arms around Kino and helped him to his feet… blood oozed down…” (56) These passages show that since Kino is the owner of a highly valued and highly wanted material possession, there have been events that have been violent. Kino was bleeding and bruised because of the greed of another person. This is an example of materialism/greed leading to immoral and violent