How can ambition destroy peoples 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 wouldnt 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 peoples 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 doctors
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
doctors 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 Kinos 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 ones 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 Kinos decision was wrong. Even
though there are some counter arguments that try to justify Kinos 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 sons 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.