How Does Greed Affect John Steinbeck

“This pearl has become my soul,” (Steinbeck 65), said Kino, the main character in John Steinbeck's wondrous book, The Pearl. Kino is a lowly, poor brush house villager given a chance to become rich and accomplish feats that only a wealthy white man at the time could do. When he found a pearl that could make him rich, everything changed. Greed overcame Kino and lead him to hope and wish for things no brush house man would think of. Greed can lead us to do many things, even when people try to stop or warn you, unlucky events occur that are caused by the greed, and your family or friends are endangered.
To start, many people tried to stop and warn Kino of the evil the pearl brought to Kino, such as his family and the brush house people. Juana,
John Steinbeck used characterization once again to show how Kino had changed. In the beginning of the book, Kino was a simple and caring brush house man. As, the novel went on and Kino found the pearl, his life changed. A turning point in his life was when Kino said to Juan Thomas, “‘This pearl had become my soul,”’ (Steinbeck 65). “‘If I give it up I shall lose my soul,”’ (Steinbeck 65). Just before this Kino caught Juana trying to throw the pearl into the ocean. When he finally reached her, “ He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and kicked her in the side, “ (Steinbeck 57). “ Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared. He hissed at her like a snake, “ (Steinbeck 58). These excerpts from the story showed how Kino would do anything for the pearl. Throughout everything he still stood by the pearl above all. He only came to realization when, through all the struggles with the pearl, Coyotito was shot and sadly, died. He walked back to his village and threw the pearl into the great depths of the ocean. Finally rid of the wicked, white, sphere of perfection, he went on with his life and the tale of John Steinbeck although still in our hearts, came to an