Pearl Essay

Ayeshah Shaath # 16 November 9, 2009 English Pearl Essay “Changing Faces”

Changing Faces Greed, the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs. Has anyone ever actually thought of the concept “greed”? Greed is when someone has all they need, and still wants more to have for themselves. They turn corrupt and evil, and they don’t care about other people any more. There is a great deal of greed in the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck. In The Pearl, greed controls the minds of people, and turns them against one another. Kino, unfortunately, succumbs to this trait and becomes greedy like the rest of his town. Greed changes people, and most of the time, it’s not for the better. Today, you see greed in everything from history to celebrities, television to books, religion to politics, and many other places. One of my favorite examples is from a hadith of the holy prophet. It says:”If the son of Adam had two valleys of money, he would wish for a third, for nothing can fill the belly of Adam's son except dust, and Allah forgives him who repents to Him.” This means if a person has much of something, that person would ask for more of it, because no matter what they get, they’ll always want more, and Allah will always let them be forgiven if they ask. There are many other examples in the world today. From history; Cain and Able were brothers. They got greedy, so one killed the other in a passion of anger and frustration. Or look what happened to Romulus and Remus. They had a disagreement on the plans of their new land, so Romulus just up and kills Remus. Then he names the land Rome, after his name, Romulus (ROM-YUL-US). From celebs; you see it all the time. A new star loves their family and friends, greed takes them over and suddenly they think they’re better than everyone else. From television; I remember this one episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Ashley, Will’s cousin, learns that she has talent for a singing career. She gets completely full of herself, and refuses to even open a door without her brother, Carlton, doing it for her. From books; the book I’m reading now, at one part, shows how a girl who is given new power from a vampire goddess

abuses it and loses this power and destroys herself with it. You can’t take on more power if you are not responsible enough to handle it. She got greedy, so she lost it. These are only a few examples of greed in the world today. In The Pearl, Kino is struggling between desire and what is right. The greed threatens to overpower him, but he keeps forcing it down, until one point where it all comes out. First of all, when he finds the pearl, he thinks of some material items that he doesn’t really even need(Like the rifle, harpoon, clothes etc.). Next when the pearl buyers don’t pay the money he wants, he leaves with no money at all. Juana, his wife, begs him to throw the pearl, saying it is evil, yet he rejects the thought. Since he will not listen, Juana takes things into her own hands. She tries to throw the pearl into the sea, but he catches her and beats her. A man tries to steal the pearl; he has enough nerve to kill the guy before he gives up his “precious” pearl. With no more trust for his village or its people, Kino runs away to the mountains putting his family and himself in danger. This is all what Kino does out of his selfishness and greed. Even the people in the city start to become greedy. He should have been aware that his people would turn against him. Ironically, the town is named “La Paz” or peace, yet there is no peace in La Paz. Everyone on that land is becoming possessed with greed. Even the priest, “a man of God”, tries to get the pearl for his church. The doctor dreams of Paris, women, and wine, all things he can gain from the pearl. The pearl buyers suddenly wish that they owned pearls instead of the boss that controls them all. The trackers come with a gun, which just means they have no intension of letting Kino live; they plan to get the pearl and kill him afterward. They all try to cheat Kino out of his pearl time and time again. Look what happened to his boat, his house, and for a matter of fact, him! Boat broken, house burnt down, and he is attacked nearly every time he’s out in the open daylight! Although most of these people are nothing alike, they all have one thing in common. Greed overtook them, and they weren’t strong enough to hold it off. I really did not enjoy this book, but it taught me many lessons. First of all, don’t be greedy. Second, evaluate yourself before you think someone else is wrong. Third, trust your fellow kin and friends. And last but definitely not least, help others before you help yourself, for one day, you just might need them as much as they once needed you. Greed alters mankind, and more often than not, it’s not intended for the better. Greed has changed many faces of different races; don’t let it change you too.