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.