Essay/Term paper: Character analysis of kino from the pearl

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Kino, a character from the story "The Pearl," is a prime

example of a developing character. From the start through

to the end, he develops drastically. At the beginning, he

was thought out to be a good loyal husband but as time

went on he became a selfish, greedy person who would do

anything for money. When the story began Kino seemed to

be a good husband who wanted nothing more than to be

able to support his family. After a scorpion had stung

Coyotito, Kino prayed that he would find a pearl not to

become a rich man but so that he could pay the doctor to

heal the baby, as he would not work free. After Kino had

spent long hard hours searching the ocean floor, he finally

found the pearl he had worked for. At first when he found

it, he only wanted to pay the doctor to cure Coyotito.

However as time passed he began to think of all the things

that he could acquire with the money form the pearl and

began to develop greed and selfishness. When people

asked him what he would buy now that he was a rich man,

he was quick to list several items that came to his mind.

One of these items was a rifle. Kino wanted a rifle because

he wanted to show power over the rest of his village. When

Kino took the pearl to the pearl buyers to sell, he was

offered one thousand pesos. Kino declined that offer

claiming that his pearl was "The Pearl of the World." By

reacting in such a manner he yet again demonstrates his

greed. It is not about saving Coyotito anymore, for he is

already feeling well, it is now about the money. Although

one thousand pesos was more money than Kino had ever

seen he demanded that he would get fifty thousand pesos.

Later in the text, Kino discovers Juana trying to destroy the

pearl, causing Kino to become very angry, and resulted in

him beating her. Although Juana was in very much pain she

accepted the beating as if it were a punishment and stayed

with Kino. A while later Kino was attacked by another

man who wanted the pearl for himself and defended his

pearl by killing the man. It is around this point in the story

where Kino displays his greatest point of greed and

selfishness. When Kino gets ready to attack the trackers

Coyotito lets out a cry awakening one of the sleeping

trackers. The tracker on watch described the cry as being

the cry of a baby, however, the tracker who had just

awaked described it as being a coyote. The tracker on

guard then lifted his rifle and shot in the direction of the

sound. This sparked the deadliest of fuses in Kino, which

turned him from a normal man into a fearsome,

uncontrollable, machinelike man killing everything in it's

path. When Kino returned to the village he looked at the

pearl and began to realize the effect it had on him, his

family, and his village, and decided to throw it back into the

ocean where it came from. Kino has paid a large price to

learn such a valuable lesson, that we should not let greed

and our want for something to overcome us and let us lose

sight of the important things in life such as family, health,

and life itself.