This story is about Kino finding a pearl and its effects. Kino and Juana are the main characters of the story and want to change their poor living conditions to a richer lifestyle when they found the pearl. They encounter many conflicts throughout the story. At the end of it all, they lost the most precious son in their lives. In The Pearl, Steinbeck uses the pearl, a symbol of materialism, displaying the theme of wealth leading to destruction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Kino got into his canoe and found a pearl in the ocean. After that, he thought about what he could buy. "His lips moved hesitantly – "A gun," he said. "Maybe a gun."(12). Kino is thinking about what to buy now that he has become rich from the pearl. It's just the beginning of cinema desires and the beginning and on the path to destruction At the beginning of the story it doesn't affect the family in a negative way at all. Later Kino starts to really think about what he is. . wants to get out of the pearl. He dreams of the things he wants "But Kino's brain burned, even in his sleep, and he dreamed that Coyotito could read, that one of his people could tell him the truth of things. And in his dream, Coyotito was reading a book as big as a house, with letters as big as dogs, and the words were galloping and playing on the book. And then the darkness spread across the page, and with the darkness came the music of evil, and Kino awoke in his sleep; and when he moved, Juana's eyes opened in the darkness. And then Kino woke up, with the evil music pulsing through him, and he lay in the darkness with his ears alert. (70)". These thoughts were bad to have because he was falling into a trap. This relates to the theme because he has a lot of power with the pearl and leads him down the path of destruction. Later in the story, Juana begins to think differently about the pearl. Juana begins to open her eyes and says this: “This thing is bad,” she cried harshly “This pearl is like a sin! She will destroy us,” and his voice rose shrilly. “Throw him away, Kino. Let's break it between the stones. Let's bury it and forget the place. Let's throw him back into the sea. He brought evil. Kino, my husband, he will destroy us."(75).