Theme Of Greed In John Steinbeck

The power of greed can destroy people and their wonderful and simple lives. It is not a physical power that physically kills you, but rather a power that gets in your soul and destroys you from the inside. The greed of Kino, the main character, is shown throughout The Pearl. The author showed greed throughout the book by using foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization. John Steinbeck, the author, used all of these devices to show that greed was able to take over people's souls and change their state of minds because of the pearl’s ability to change people. The foreshadowing was used by Steinbeck to lead into situations throughout the story. He used certain quotes to show how the Kino was going to use the pearl and how the pearl was changing Kino. “She knew there was murder in him, and it was all right; she had accepted it, and she would not resist or even protest” (Steinbeck 58). This quote showed how Kino was so attached to the pearl and was full of greed that he eventually murdered people just to protect his precious pearl. The pearl had changed him, and by the end of the book Kino had murdered four people
He also used symbolism to show how the greed of Kino changed how the pearl looked from the beginning to the end. “And the pearl was ugly; it was gray, like a malignant growth” (Steinbeck 86). This quote shows how the pearl changed from the best thing that ever happened to Kino and his family to the worst. The greed in Kino changed the pearl from being thankful for the pearl to being someone that wants power and all of these items to show his power. From beginning to end he changed from a guy happy with his corn cakes to a murderer that wanted power and