Jack Van Cleaf
Greed Greed is a powerful powerful thing. It is possessive and always leads to misfortune. It is important to analyze greed so that one may know the consequences. Greed originates from from want and envy, possesses the mind, and leads to misfortune. Characters in The Pearl experience greed greed and endure all of its stages; want and envy, the possession of the mind and finally, its consequence, misfortune. Greed originates originates from want and envy. As soon as Kino finds his great pearl he begins to want want material objects. “Then to the lovely gray gray surface of the pearl came the little things Kino wanted; a harpoon to take the place of one lost a year ago, a new harpoon of iron with a ring in the end of the shaft and – his mind could hardly make the leap – a rifle – but why not, since he was so rich”(pg.24). Kino is going through through the first stages of greed greed as he begins to think of all the materials that he wants. And he begins to think that he can have whatever he wants, but little does he know that this want will lead to his and his family’s destruction. However, it is not only Kino Kino who begins to want want things after the appearance of the pearl, other people, especially from the village begin to show interest in obtaining the pearl itself, like the doctor. “The doctor looked looked surprised. ‘I had not heard heard of it. Do you keep keep this pearl in a safe place? place? Perhaps you would like me to put it it in my safe?’ Kino’s eyes were were hooded now, now, his cheeks drawn taut. ‘I have it secure,’ secure,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow I will sell it and then I will pay you.’ The doctor shrugged, and his wet eyes never left Kino’s eyes. He knew the pearl would be buried in in the house. And he thought Kino might look toward the place where it was buried. buried. ‘It would be a shame to have it stolen before you could sell it,’ the doctor said, and he saw Kino’s eyes flick involuntarily to the floor near the side post of the brush house”(pg.34-35). It is clear that the doctor yearns for the pearl from the way he acts towards Kino, after Kino Kino has found the pearl. Before Kino found the pearl pearl the doctor doctor refused to treat Coyotito’s (Kino’s (Kino’s baby) scorpion sting. The doctor looks looks for
the smallest hint of where the pearl could be and he even acts kindly to Kino, so it will not be obvious that he desires Kino’s pearl. Want and Envy, the origin origin of greed, are shown through the behavior of the doctor and Kino’s thoughts. Want and Envy lead lead to disastrous disastrous events in the book. Without want and and envy, unfortunate events events would not occur in this book. book. The way greed originates originates e! ects ects the situation situati on by setting people’s minds on what they want. People decide that they want something somethin g and will have it. If greed did not originate originat e from want and envy, than greed would be a very di! erent erent thing with extremely di! erent erent outcomes. After one experiences want and envy, greed begins to possess a person’s mind. Once greed possesses Kino’s mind it forces forces him to go to extremes to get what he wants; he hurts somebody. “And rage surged surged through Kino. He rolled up to his feet feet and followed her as silently as she had gone, and he could hear her quick footsteps going toward shore. Quietly he tracked her, and his brain was red with anger. She burst clear clear out of the brush line and stumbled over the little boulders toward the water, and then she heard him coming and she broke into a run. Her arm was up to throw when he leaped at her and caught her arm and wrenched the pearl from from her. He struck her in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side”(pg. 57). Now, Kino’s greed greed has taken over his mind. He abused his own wife, wife, to keep his pearl and the materials he may get with it, which most people would say is unacceptable. When greed pushes pushes Kino farther, he will destroy destroy himself and his family. Those who want the pearl, itself, itself, also are possessed by greed. Some people even go as far as to follow Kino, the holder of the pearl, when he leaves town to sell his pearl in the capital. “And then he saw them them moving along. His body sti! ened ened and he drew down his head and peaked out from under a fallen branch. In the distance he could see three figures, two on foot and one on horseback. But he knew what they were, and a chill of fear went
through him. Even in the distance he could could see the two on foot moving slowly along, bent low to the ground. Here, one would would pause and look at the earth while the other joined him. him. They were the trackers, they could follow the trail of a bighorn sheep in the stone mountains. mountains. They were as sensitive as hounds. Here, he and Juana might have stepped out of the wheel rut, and these people from the inland, these hunters, could follow, could read a broken straw or a little tumbled pile of dust”(pg.70-71). Greed drives people people from the city into the wilderness in search of of the pearl. A man has even hired specially specially trained trackers to find Kino Kino and his pearl. The trip to follow Kino is not simply a stroll in the park, it is a long, dangerous, and exhausting expedition in the wilderness; and these hunters from the city are willing to embark on this rather perilous journey in order to take Kino’s pearl. Once greed possesses one’s mind they are on a one-way road to misfortune. Possession of the mind causes ignorant choices to be made, which leads to horrible consequences. Misfortune is the final stage and consequence of greed. People who have already gone through the possession of the mind, will go through consequences involving pain beyond your imagination, whether it be pain on themselves, or the horrible horrible pain of sadness. After being possessed possessed by greed, Kino goes through a pain pain like no other, a pain pain that will haunt him forever. forever. “And in the surface of the pearl he saw Coyotito lying in the little cave with the t op of his head shot away”(pg.86). away”(pg.86). Kino destroyed his baby, himself, himself, and his family family with his greed for the pearl and the materials he can gain from the sale of it. Kino now has single-handedly single-handedly killed his son son with his greed. As said before, this is a pain that will never leave Kino and will hurt him every day for the rest of his life. Those who followed followed Kino and his pearl pearl will also experience experience the pain of misfortune, but their pain is a little di! erent erent than than Kino’s. “Kino was in mid-leap when the gun crashed and the barrel flash made a picture picture on his eyes. The great knife swung and and crunched hollowly. hollowly. It bit through neck and deep into chest, and Kino was a terrible terrible machine now. He grasped the rifle even as he wrenched free his his knife. His strength and his movement movement and his speed were a machine. He whirled and struck the head head of the seated man like like a melon”(pg. 84) The followers followers of the pearl go through the pain of death. This pain, being being
di! erent erent than Kino’s excruciating pain, is still a horrible consequence of greed. They paid for their greed by su ! ering ering death, death, bringing their lives to an end. end. As seen, there are multiple sources of misfortune and pain after one is possessed by greed. Some su! er er physical pain as their greed drives them to a horrible injury or worse, death, and some su ! er er emotional pain as their greed ends up killing a loved one and they are forced to live with the horrible guilt of killing one who did not deserve deserve to die. Greed always leads to misfortune misfortune which can cause pain in multiple ways and should teach all to stop being greedy. As seen, greed is not a nice nice path to take. It will make you do do things you will regret and make you pay the price; just as Kino and some s ome other characters in The Pearl did. Let this essay be a lesson to you you to avoid greed; or else else you will be bound to a destiny that you will not like.
