In the books Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the main theme presented that contributes the plot was greed. Greed is a theme that is shown through the actions of the characters in both of these books and plays a role in moving the plot forward. Both books consist of adventures and mysteries that lead to a suspenseful reading experience. Greed causes consequences such as possessiveness, dangerous outcomes, and guilt, all of which play an especially important role in advancing the plot. All three of these topics contribute to the general demise of book characters, making them extremely important factors to analyze. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Intense greed causes people to do things they normally wouldn't do, such as being possessive. The characters in the story lose sight of the bigger picture and this leads them to want more than they already have. In The Pearl, Kino finds a rare pearl and takes it to an appraiser to get as much money as possible, but the appraiser doesn't want to give Kino even half of what he wants. He would not settle for less and left the shop without money and with the extraordinary pearl in his pocket. The Pearl caused Kino to become very obsessive about Coyotito, his son, and referred to the boy as property: “His face shone with prophecy. 'My son will read and open books, and my son will write and know how to write. And my son will do numbers, and these things will set us free because he will know, he will know and through him we will know... This will make the pearl'”. It is not selfish of Kino to want more for his son, but it is greedy of him to want his son to be better than everyone else in his neighborhood, as they live in a poor community surrounded by rich cities. Non-wealthy people can be as greedy as treasure-hungry pirates. In a conversation between Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey in Treasure Island, the squire makes some good observations about how the famous pirate Captain Flint only performs tasks where money and wealth are involved. Not only did Flint worry about money, but all the other pirates did too: "'But the point is, did he have money?' 'Money! Have you heard the story? What do they care about if not money? What would they risk their scoundrel carcasses for if not for money?'” Money is an object and they keep wanting more of it, no matter the cost; bloodshed, dishonesty and disloyalty do not affect them, so why should they care? One of the few characters who are not sincerely interested in money is Ben Gunn, "he owns the entire treasure of Flint, but shares it with the squire Trelawney and his men, asking only a small portion of it in exchange for his services to them." He witnessed firsthand the possessiveness aspect of Captain Flint, and was worried that it might happen to him too. In both novels, several characters have lost their lives trying to protect what they had or trying to gain more power In the case of the character Kino in The Pearl, his son is killed because he kept the Pearl instead of selling it, which led to more people targeting the family. and to want to take the pearl. The child was innocent and still untouched by the hands of greed, but the atmosphere changed in the story “and then Kino was left uncertain. Something was wrong, some signal was trying to reach his brain. The tree frogs and cicadas were silent now. And then Kino's brain broke free of its red concentration and he recognized the sound – the wailing, wailing, rising hysterical cry coming fromfrom the small cave on the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death." Kino hadn't realized the problems he had caused his family until that point, and thought he could keep his family safe and still get what he wanted. Not only did Coyotito die, but also many pirates. Numerous pirates lost their lives but did not move on from the battle, they lost their lives to keep a secret. Captain Flint never showed mercy when it came to getting what he wanted and never risked revealing where his treasure was hidden. But “the idea of ​​treasure also works in another way in the book, playing on the double meaning of the word “luck”, which can mean both 'wealth' and 'destiny'”(). By saying this, it is argued that the treasure could be perceived as what the pirates wanted it to be seen. In chapter thirteen, a character called Benn Gunn is introduced who went on an adventure and was part of Captain Flint's crew when the murder took place. When he met the main character, Jim Hawkins, Ben told him what he saw on the island. He said: “I was on Flint's ship when he buried the treasure; him and six other sailors... But there he was, mind you, and all six of them dead, dead and gone. How he did it, no one on board us could figure out. It was battle, murder and minimal ways...". This was the way of pirates and eventually Ben joined another crew, then told them where Flint's treasure is and was soon after marooned on a separate island. This shows that even if an individual tries to avoid being greedy, other greedy people nearby will impact his or her life overall. Greed can be an easy temptation to succumb to, but it's difficult to face the consequences. There is a clear moment in The Pearl where Kino realizes what he has done and makes the reader feel remorse for this character. To be more specific in this book, the narrator wrote: “Now Kino lay at the mouth of the cave, with his chin resting on his crossed arms, and watched the blue shadow of the mountain move across the scrubby desert below until it reached the Gulf, and the long twilight of shadow covered the earth” . Kino sits alone reflecting on what he has done and what has happened to his once fulfilling life, waking up with his wife and son. He will never be the same again because his friends have turned against him, which has sent him into a panic and inevitably gotten his son killed. Coyotito's killing was an accident, which is why it is understandable that Kino feels remorse and remorse for his son. Pirates, on the other hand, don't feel guilty, so the Treasure Island character who best demonstrates this trait is Jim. He begins as a young, innocent boy, but eventually grows and matures into a young man capable of taking care of himself. At the end of the novel, when he finds the treasure with what was left of the crew, Jim has a moment where he thinks to himself: “...That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to look for, and that we had already cost the lives of seventeen men from Hispaniola. How many men it cost in massing, how much blood and pain, what good ships sink into the deep, what brave men walk the plank blindfolded, what cannon fire, how much shame, lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell.” He realizes what happened for this treasure to be in the cave and in his hands, and he's considering whether it's worth it. Were all the gold and jewels really worth the bloodshed? Jim never intended for the people who went on the journey to get hurt or die, but he feels guilty about it, especially on the part of Israel Hands. This.