How can ambition destroy people’s hearts? Sometimes those who want to improve their social status and

have a better lifestyle are well intentioned. But is it possible that those good intentions end up destroying

the truly important things in life? And wouldn’t it be better to keep the loved ones instead of pursuing a

better economic status? Some people may think that Kino in the novella “The pearl” by John Steinbeck was

right in keeping the pearl, because his intentions were good, he only wanted to give a better future to his

son Coyotito, and if people were not envious that could have worked out perfectly for him and his wife

Juana, but the following arguments will show why, in this case, Kino was wrong in taking the decision of

keeping the pearl had he found.

The first point to be raised is that Kino was advised not to keep the pearl but he did not listen, thus having

terrible consequences. The first person to advise Kino was his wife Juana. She could feel that the pearl

was evil and that it would only bring suffering to their lives. But Kino refused to listen to his wife's

warning and tried to convince her that the treasure would be beneficial for them. Even when she tried to

get rid of the pearl Kino went mad and he attacked Juana. She understood why Kino attacked her and that

he would not give up the Pearl. Thus Kino lost his house first, and then his baby son for not listening to his

wise wife. The second person that tried to bring him into sense was his brother Juan Tomas. He is the

wiser brother of Kino and is trustworthy. When his house burns down he immediately goes to Juan for

help. He helped Kino and his family escape from the people who are after him and his pearl. Juan

expressed the same feelings as Juana towards the evil pearl and asked if Kino was willing to destroy the

pearl, but Kino declares that the pearl has become his soul, and refused to get rid of it. This caused Kino to

lose the support of his brother, who asked him to leave his house. To sum up, Kino was blind by the desire

of having a better life so he did not listen to his relatives advises and he ended up losing what he loved the

most.

The second argument is how other people’s ambition affected Kino and his family. To begin with, Kino was

unable to sell the pearl for the price he has expected and the pearl buyers denigrated his finding as

"monstrous" and "ugly" because of its size. However, he refused to sell it for the offers made by the buyers,

nor did he believe their claims of its worthlessness. This caused Kino to keep the pearl for a longer time,

putting him and his family in danger of thieves and envious people. Secondly, Kino buried the pearl in the

ground fearing that others might try to steal it. One of his fears, and the second threat was the doctor that

had treated Coyitoto after being bitten by a scorpion. The doctor’s motives remain suspect, and Steinbeck

seems to suggest that his keen eye observed Kino's unintentional revelation of the treasure's hiding place.

Later in the night, an intruder entered Kino's house and attempted to steal the pearl, coinciding with the

doctor’s ambition for money. The last sign of ambition was the priest. He is a representative of the rich

rather than the church. He had a sermon that explained that people who tried to improve themselves were

sinning against God because they refused to accept the station in life that God had assigned to them. When

the priest first heard of the great pearl, he did not even know who Kino was; then he wondered if he had

married Kino and Juana, and immediately thought of all the repairs the church needed and which could be

solved by selling Kino's pearl. To conclude it must be said that many rich men in town were interested in

Kino’s pearl only to be richer, so by keeping the pearl Kino and his family were constantly threatened.

The last argument is that the pearl ended up bringing suffering and making Kino lose what he loved the

most. Firstly, Kino lost his home. The second time someone tried to steal the pearl from him at night was a

turning point for the story. Kino struggled with the thief and ended up killing him. Juana and Kino decided

to burn down their house in order to hide the murdered body. Thus losing their place in the world and

being destined to face worse problems than they already had faced. Eventually, everyone in town would

know what Kino had done, so they decided to escape. The three of them left the village and became

fugitives. Since the pearl was taken with them as a potential solution to their plight, three "dark trackers"

followed the family, threatening their lives, dreams and future. Juana and Kino managed to escape from

the trackers for some time, but end up having to fight them in the mountains. In the struggle, Kino

managed to kill the trackers, but a stray shot from a rifle hit Coyotito in the head, causing his death. In

conclusion, even though Kino wanted to improve their lifestyle he was blinded by his ambition, which

brought him and his family endless suffering, causing him to lose everything he was really fighting for at

the beginning, the life of his baby son.

Some arguments state that Kino was right in keeping the pearl, because he had good intentions. Those

arguments state that it was not ambition what moved him, but the hope of giving a better lifestyle to his

family, and education for his son. Also people may think that it was a matter of good or bad luck, and that

it could have been possible for them to sell the pearl in the capital and thus be happy and rich. However,

the arguments presented above show that pursuing a dream does not justify putting one’s family into such

danger and going though suffering, because the loved ones are more important than money and social

status.

This essay presents many arguments that show why Kino’s decision was wrong. Even though there are

some counter arguments that try to justify Kino’s behavior, it has been shown that the best choice for Kino

and his family would have been to throw the pearl back into the sea, and thus saving his house, and over

all his baby son’s life. To conclude it can be said that the arguments completely support the fact that Kino

took the wrong choice by keeping the pearl he had found in the sea, since it only brought pain for him and

his wife Juana.