Greed And Greed In John Steinbeck's The Pearl

As Mahatma Gandhi stated,“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”. Greed was one of the most important themes in John Steinbeck's novella “The Pearl” (1947). It applies to everything, each person is greedy or envious at some point or another. It was primarily displayed the pearl traders, kino, and the doctor. Although one could argue that these people were just trying to provide and look out for themselves. All humans are greedy by nature, whether they show it or not. To begin the pearl traders were consumed by greed. All of their focus was on how to receive the greatest amount of money out of Kino. For example, when he went in to visit the first pearl trader they tried to tell him that his pearl was not eligible to receive any considerable amount of money. He knew that Kino had a very limited amount of experience dealing with these kinds of offers. So he was willing to take advantage of his lack of knowledge. However, …show more content…
That they were all only trying to provide and protect themselves and their families. The doctor and the pearl traders are in a similar situation. Their “greed” could have just been out of self-preservation. They needed to keep that money to provide for themselves. They also have already established a name and they are obliged to pay much more than Kino to pay for their responsibilities. As well as making a profit so they do not end up in major debt that is going to be difficult for them to get back on their feet. Kino, on the other hand, has a different story. He is very family oriented, his greed was not intentional. It was out of love and protection for his family. Especially when his son receives this sickness, he was so excited about his new found money so that his son could thrive and have a life. All of these people were trying to help themselves be successful, not take from others in an incompetent manner because they were