In The Pearl, by John Steinbech, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. Evil was exhibited by the doctor who refused to treat Coyotito because his parents had no money. When the doctor heard of Kino and Juana"s fortune in finding "the pearl of the world" 722, he boasted that they were patients of his while thinking of a better life for himself in Paris. Coyotito was healed when the doctor finally came to their straw hut. He deceived Kino by giving the baby a white powder that made him go into convulsions. An hour later he came and...
then committed the cardinal sin, they destroyed Kino"s canoe:

This was an evil beyond thinking. The killing of a man was not so evil as the killing of a boat. For a boat does not have sons, and a boat cannot protect itself, and a wounded boat does not heal. 744

The trackers annihilated the most important material possession that any citizen of the community owned, "...for a man with a boat can guarantee a woman that she will eat something. It was the bulwark against starvation" 717. The evil invaded Kino"s life and everyone who knew of it.