Greed

Greed is an overriding theme of this book, though there is a limit to the number of people who exhibit the trait. First, there's Will Farnaby. Will is a journalist and has seen some terrible things. When he encounters the Palanese society, he is eventually won over to all the things that are right about the culture. But before that, he's eager to earn the bonus his boss has promised by paving the way for the attainment of the right to drill for oil on Pala. Will leaves home with the idea that the money is there for the taking, but doesn't know how he could accomplish those goals. It raises the question whether Will's shipwreck was actually an accident or if he'd done it on purpose with the express idea of having some time on Pala to work on Joe's behalf.

Murugan is another who is greedy...