The Survey of Steinbeck’s the Pearl as Reflection of the Theme of Human Materialism Mirage

John Steinbeck is well known for the revelation of different problems of his time via the lens of fiction. He has illustrated the basic conditions of his era through the features of novels. In this paper, I have surveyed the theme of inhumane zest for materialism in Steinbeck’s novel The Pearl. Deploying text clues and context analysis approach, I have focused on the author’s characterization, setting selection, and creation of human yearnings and ambitions to show how he has tried to manifest the existence of inhumane materialism zest which upon the passage of time proves to be a threat to the salvation of humanity. The paper specifically indicates how Steinbeck has fully illustrated these visions and obsessions in his work and revealed that his materialism projection ideas prove to be offshoots of modernism. It concludes that Steinbeck has clearly and indirectly informed humanity of the threat of materialism zest which upon scrutiny proves to be a salvation mirage.

Keywords:

Materialism , John Steinbeck , the Pearl , Mirage