Greed in Margaret Ogola’s The River and The Source and John Steinbeck’s The Pearl: A Comparative Analysis Anonymous 12th Grade

Set in entirely different parts of the world, the two novels The River and the Source and The Pearl both explore the theme of greed in conceptual terms. John Steinbeck and Margaret Ogola not only bring into perspective the implications of avariciousness but also explore the theme and the effect it has on individual lives. In this paper, a comparative analysis of how Margaret Ogola in The River and the Source and John Steinbeck in The Pearl bring out the concept of greed in their novels and its implications in both cases is carried out.

In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, Kino’s strong desire to change his lifestyle gets the better of him to the extent that it clouds his sense of judgment. After he finds the pearl, he sees it as a promise of a good future: “my son will go to school” (46). Moreover, Kino is often too engrossed in daydreaming after he finds the pearl, entertaining all sought of ideas. He thinks of buying a rifle since he will have the money despite it being something of an impossibility: “…his mind could hardly make the leap—a rifle—but why not, since he was so rich” (46). Even after Juana warns him about the potential evil that the pearl presents to his family, he is blinded to an extent that he strikes Juana for...