Wealth Brought Misery

In The Pearl, John Steinbeck shows us how Kino’s character changes during the novel. This changes start when Kino becomes a wealthy man. First, he starts to be extremely aggressive; second, hechanges his relationship with his wife, and third, he places his family in a less important position in his life.

To begin with, when Kino finds the pearl, it becomes his most important possession,and since he knows most of the people in his town feels envy towards his pearl, he wants to protect it from everyone, using strength and violence which made him and aggressive man. An example of this isevidenced when Kino kills a man and he becomes an animal, “He was an animal now, for hiding, for attacking”(pg.62), he acts by instinct not with reason, this makes him aggressive and uncompassionate,he doesn't have limits in which concern to the use of violence.Then, we can notice the aggressive man Kino is, when he kills a man just to protect his pearl because he fears that everything he hasdreamed about could be gone, so he stabs him until he is dead, to make sure that his “territory” is safe. His wife, Juana knows he is an aggressive man, “She knew there was murder in him” (pg.59) sheknows what he has been transformed into, and she knows her old life is gone.

Becoming a rich man made Kino a different person, therefore his relationship and his love for his wife, Juana, arevanished by his pearl, by his dreams of having a wedding and an educated son. First, before he had the pearl, Kino and Juana had a quiet and calmed relationship. The author says, “They had spoken once, butthere is not need for speech if it is only an habit anyway. Kino sighed with satisfaction – and that was a conversation” (pg. 8), these shows us know how their relationship used to be, how theydidn’t need any words to give love to each other. However, when Kino becomes the owner of the pearl, he makes it a priority in his life and it brought evil to his family. Juana realizes what the pearl...