Explain what Kino means when he says that the pearl has become his soul, and that if he gives it up, he will lose his soul. Does Steinbeck depict Kino’s devotion to the pearl as a positive or negative quality? Why?

I think the Pearl quickly becomes a negative quality. It tares Kino away from all that he once held sacred. It's kind of like the ring from Tolkien's Hobbit series. The longer Kino has it, the stronger its hold on him. Kino knows what the ring represents; a better life for his family. Kino, however, witnesses his life and his family fall a part yet he still can not part with the ring. With his child dead, it takes the strength of his wife Juana to sever the Pearl's power over him.