In chapter one, Kino doesn’t have any money to pay for the treatment of his child’s scorpion sting. The doctor refuses to treat the child unless he is paid for it and dismisses Kino from his office. After the news spread that Kino had found the pearl, the doctor welcomes him back and is happy to treat Coyotito. The quote “You have a pearl? A good pearl?” (P.35) is how the doctor replied when Kino told him about the pearl. This quote shows how the author uses the pearl as a symbol for greed. The doctor …show more content…
On page 59, it states “Greedy fingers went through his clothes, frantic figures searched him, and the pearl, knocked from his hand, lay winking behind a little stone in the pathway.” This quote shows how people who were once united as a town turned against one to get money. They all became greedy and wanted the pearl for themselves. This evokes the reader to feel sad that a town that was once a community was almost torn apart by greed. This gets the author’s point across that money and power causes people to become very greedy.
In conclusion, the pearl represents greed. After the pearl was found, everyone tried everything they could to get it for themselves. This caused many emotions in the reader including anger towards the characters and sadness as the town was being torn apart by the greed. Through the symbolism that the author used, he was able to make a point that power and money can change a person for the worst and cause them to become