what is the moral overtone in chapter 1

Do you really want the theme in just chapter 1 or the whole book?

Chapter 1

Despite the serene description with which Steinbeck begins The Pearl, he also establishes that this existence is a precarious one; Coyotito's encounter with the scorpion illustrates this possibility of danger that the family faces at all times and brings into focus the magnitude of their poverty, showing that their poverty places a tangible price on their existence that Kino may not be able to pay. Although content, poverty exacts a price and this theme is illuminated in the first chapter.