How does greed affect Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre?

In the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston, the character Fred C. Dobbs (played by Humphrey Bogart) serves as a cautionary study on how the pursuit of wealth can corrupt the human spirit. Initially a hard-luck laborer, Dobbs is transformed by his discovery of gold into a man consumed by paranoia and moral decay.1

As his obsession with the treasure grows, Dobbs becomes increasingly suspicious of his partners, Curtin and Howard. This greed erodes his sense of humanity, leading him to plot the murder of a fellow fortune seeker and eventually shoot his own partner, Curtin, in a fit of madness. Ultimately, his descent into irrationality and violence proves self-destructive; he is killed by bandits who, ironically, mistake his hard-won gold for mere sand and discard it. The film illustrates the ethical principle that unchecked avarice destroys the very person it seeks to enrich, leaving nothing behind but the futility of the pursuit.1