The Pearl Greed Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

Kino looked down at her and his teeth were bared. He hissed at her like a snake, and Juana stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before the butcher. She knew there was murder in him, and it was all right; she had accepted it, and she would not resist or even protest. And then the rage left him and a sick disgust took its place. He turned away from her and walked up the beach and through the brush line. His senses were dulled by his emotion. (5.3)

Greed has rendered Kino capable of animalistic brutalities.

Quote #8

Everyone in La Paz remembers the return of the family; there maybe some old ones who saw it, but those whose fathers and whose grandfathers told it to them remember it nevertheless. It is an event that happened to everyone. (6.98)

After Kino discovers the pearl, each person is consumed by greed and imagines himself as the one who has found the pearl. Likewise, when the pearl destroys Kino’s family, everyone’s fantasies are similarly destroyed – Kino’s heartbreak is shared by all.