The Pearl Symbolism

What we learned about the pearls symbolism to the main characters in the book (by its reactions) was that the pearl showed greed. When Kino and Juana were a normal family that lived in the village, who doctors would not talk to and town people named poor, found the pearl the size of an egg started having people talk to them. Many people in the book only cared about money in situations even regarding death, but when they heard that money was involved, they quickly changed character and acted as though they did really care. When Coyotito was stung by the scorpian, the doctor solemnly said he would only help if "he had money" but Kino and Juana did not have the patience to have their baby suffer in pain. Once finding the coin, everyone had started acting as though they had been friends with Kino and Juana for a long time. The doctor finally cared because he knew he could cheat Kino into giving him more money than normal, even by poisoning the baby.