Posted by Anna | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 2, 2013
Just this week, our class read The Pearl by John Steinbeck.
Although much could be taken out of this book, the part that stood out to me was how greed can corrupt anyone no matter how they truly are deep down. The main character, a very simple man named Kino, had a kind and caring heart before he found the pearl. At first, all he wanted to do with the pearl was sell it so his son Coyotito could be cured from the scorpion bite, however as the time went on, he kept craving more and more wealth. The thoughts of the pearl were enveloping his life and changing it for the worse! At night, he had to sleep with one eye open and a knife around his neck for fear of someone stealing the pearl and when his wife, Juana, escaped the house to go throw it back into the sea, he caught her and abused her. Then when he was walking, a man attacted him because he wanted the pearl too, and Kino killed him. You could see Kino’s heart harden throughout the book and none of that would have happened if he hadn’t been so greedy.
Another aspect of the greed in the book was the doctor. The doctor didn’t ever help Kino’s kind, so when they took Coyotito to him, he refused to treat the baby. However, when he found out that Kino had found a monster pearl, he went right over to his house and offered to treat the babe right away. It was clear in the book that all he really cared about was the money.
One last thing that showed greed was the neighbors and friends of Kino. When they found out about the pearl, they turned against Kino and some tried to get the pearl from him by breaking into his house, attacking him, burning his house and wrecking his canoe, and so on.
I was shocked at how greed can affect a person’s life and I really haven’t thought of this before.
I think it shows how someone can turn on you at any moment because of what they feel that you have and what they think they deserve. I guess it’s a true test of who your real friends are, but it is very sad that people will do that to others.
I will always remember how greed can affect you and certainly I’ll try never to become that hardened by something so shallow.