The Pearl Essay, Research Paper

George Bernard Shaw once said, “There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.” This quote is saying that when some people gain their heart’s desire or what they want, it can sometimes bring more bad than good. It can bring out many characteristics such as greed and jealosy in the characters in a novel. In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck this quote relates directly to many events that occur. Kino was a poor fisherman who had many dreams and desires to succeed. Throughout the story many characters have made Kino want his to succeed more than ever. The doctor wouldn’t help Kino’s baby because Kino was poor. This makes Kino want to fit into soceity so he could have things that others take for granted such as a treatment from a doctor and be accepted in the eyes of others. When Kino finds an huge pearl in the ocean he feels that him and his family will prosper from this. Kino realizes that this won’t be as easy as he thought when he tries to sell the pearl. The pearl buyers were very conniving characters when they all tried to buy the pearl for much less than it is worth so they could sell it for a big profit. Kino now realized that this pearl was becoming a problem but he didn’t care. His motives revovled around greed which was shown throughout the story. Kino encounters many other obstacles in his journey to sell the pearl such as theieves and his wife. Kino who was described as a very loving and caring man at the beginning of the novel hit his wife because she wanted to get rid of the pearl. He was being driven by greed and jealosy of what others in society had. In the end Kino’s son Coyoito was

shot as a result of theives looking for the pearl. Kino’s heart’s desire was gained when he found the pearl and had the chance to be wealthy and accepted by society which is what he has always dreamed. Instead the pearl was a tragedy and only brought bad things to him such as the death of his son. When he threw the pearl in the ocean at the end of

story he realizes that their are more important things in like than being rich like family values and traditons. Kino’s mistake is a mistake made by many and The Pearl was a perfect story tp show how gaining what you want can result in a tragedy.