About the Author Wang Lung in the Book, The Good Earth

The most apparent thing that is prominent in the chapter is Wang Lung’s excitement for having children. This is shown when he states, “The house would be full of beds.” When Wang Lung finally sees his wife there seems to be a rather awkward aura between them. In chapter 2 of The Good Earth Wang Lung and

The beginning of the story starts with Sek-Lung remembering some moments with her. “Being the youngest, I had spent nearly all my time with her and could not imagine that we would ever be parted.” Sek-Lung making this statement shows his youth and how he did not fully understand the workings of the world. Along with that, it shows the strength of his relationship with his grandmother. Along with his memories of being with her he remembers how he idolized her, always following her example, while his other siblings were embarrassed by her and “in a scientific, logical world”. Instead of being embarrassed along with his siblings, he would always take in his Chinese culture and keep to the traditional Chinese ways.

The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is an educational historical novel of northeastern China during the seventeenth century. The author's focus was to enlighten a reader on the Chinese people, culture, and traditions. Spence's use of the provoking stories of the Chinese county T'an-ch'eng, in the province of Shantung, brings the reader directly into the course of Chinese history. The use of the sources available to Spence, such as the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling convey the reader directly into the lives of poor farmers, their workers and wives. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang consists on observing these people working on

In the book each of the Poh Poh’s are seen as old and wise but as well as have a deep sense of culture they are the heart of the home. Suk-Lung and Jung-Sum both had a relatively good relationship with their grandmother as they were cared for dearly”Suk-Lung and his illness. The concept of grandmother was seen throughout all three stories demonstrating their importance in Chinese culture as well as the characters lives.

The main character of the novel, Wang Lung, was a poor young peasant who lived with his father. He worked everyday in the fields harvesting goods and he enjoyed

When talking to O-lan, Wang Lung implies that she is ugly. He exclaims, “Now anyone looking at you would say you were the wife of a common fellow and never of one who has land which he hires men to plow!” (pg.168) This statement is clearly disrespectful to O-lan and it likely stems from Wang Lung’s wealth. Wang Lung then cheats on O-lan with another woman (Lotus) from the tea shop. The narrator says, “Every day he went to the tea shop; every evening he waited until she would receive him, and every night he went into her” (pg.181). This suggests that Wang Lung now prefers another woman over O-lan. As if he hadn’t done enough damage already, Wang Lung brings Lotus into his house to stay there permanently. He says, “Tell [Lotus] she shall do no work of any kind in my house but she shall wear only silken garments and eat shark’s fins every day” (pg.192). This is very disrespectful to O-lan not only due to the fact that she is his wife, but also because while she is doing housework, Lotus is being treated like a royal guest. It is evinced that Wang Lung’s wealth causes him to disrespect

However, their fortune is short-lived when bad omens rise because of Wang Lung’s insolent behavior towards his uncle’s family. Not only is their third child born a daughter, but a drought begins, preventing the land from cultivating and spreading both poverty and starvation through the North.

“The Good Earth” book describes the life of a Chinese farmer, Wang Lung, and the struggles he goes through during his life. In the beginning of the book, he marries a young slave named Olan. She is a devoted, selfless, hardworking wife. In my mind, she is the most admirable character in the novel.

Olan is introduced into the novel when Wang Lung purchases her to become his wife. Olan takes care of Wang Lung and his father. She prepares food for them and does the chores around the house that need to be done. It is obviously shown that “day after day she did one thing after another,

The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan D. Spence, paints a vivid picture of provincial China in the seventeenth century. Manly the life in the northeastern country of T’an-ch’eng. T’an-ch’eng has been through a lot including: an endless cycle of floods, plagues, crop failures, banditry, and heavy taxation. Chinese society in Confucian terms was a patriarchal society with strict rules of conduct. The role at this time of women, however, has historically been one of repression. The traditional ideal woman was a dependent being whose behavior was governed by the "three obedience’s and four virtues". The three obedience’s were obedience to

Also as his life goes on, he meets a girl named Lotus and he does things with her, and Wang Lung changes himself for her. In chapter 19, on page 184 Wang Lung buys new clothes and shaves off his hair above his forehead that he was growing out. Awhile later Wang Lung's uncle comes with his family. They find out on page 195 that Wang Lung has a thing going on with Lotus, In the book, Wang Lung’s Uncle’s wife said, “ The thing is complete, The woman who is

Lindo’s upbringing was significant because her family was very traditional. As a result of her family abiding by tradition, Lindo was betrothed to Tyan-yu as a young girl. Lindo’s family treated her as if she was from a different family. When Lindo’s family lost everything in a flood, her father decided to move the family to Wushi. Lindo was old enough to move in with Tyan-yu’s family, so her family left her in Taiyuan with her future in-laws. When Lindo moved in with her new in-laws, Huang Taitai immediately put Lindo to work cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Lindo not only lost her family by moving in with the Huangs; she also lost her childhood innocence since she was forced to abandon playing with other children so she could be put to work. As a child, Lindo faced adversity due to her lack of American opportunities and therefore matured quickly.

“Now Wang Lung had chosen a good place in his fields under a date tree upon a hill to set the graves, and Ching had the graves dug and ready and a wall of earth made about the graves, and there was space within the walls for the body of Wang Lung and for each of his sons and their wives, and there was space for sons' sons, also. This land Wang Lung did not begrudge, even though it was high land and good for wheat, because it was a sign of the establishment of his family upon their own land. Dead and alive they would rest upon their own land” (267). Again the novel compares the earth to human life. Very much like the seasons the lives of humans are always cyclical. After the death of O-Lan and Ching there will be another set of people in Wang Lung’s family and this will go on for generations much like the seasons of the

As a young girl, her mother betrothed Lindo to a boy younger than her.  Before Lindo left to live with her soon to be husband, Tyan-yu, and his family, her mother made her promise to be a good wife.  In this time period, according to Chinese beliefs, you were a bad wife if your husband left you.  Even though Lindo was not happy, nor in love, she stayed in her marriage to Tyan-yu.  She stayed in the marriage only because she honored and obeyed her parents, and she did not want them to lose face.  Lindo promised herself that she would never forget her true identity.  “That was the day I was a young girl with my face under a red marriage scarf.  I promised not to forget myself (Tan 63).”  Lindo had secretly blown out the Tyan-yu’s end of the tradition marriage red candle that determined if a relationship was going to be doomed.  Months later, Lindo had not bore any children for Tyan-yu because they weren’t having sex.  After Huang Taitai, Tyan-yu’s mother, took away all Lindo’s jewelry because she hadn’t bore any children, she realized her true worth again.  Lindo woke up one morning ranting and raving about how the ancestors said her and Tyan-yu’s relationship was doomed.  She said they told her that the wind

As the book progresses O-lan already married is a hardworking quiet wife who gives Wang Lung 3 sons and 1 girl, which back then means your house was blessed if your first born were boys and she continues to work hard even thru the pregnancy’s she asks nothing of Wang Lung only to have something to cut the life from her to the baby. While Cuckoo is the concubine of the Old Lord and still a slave however, she eventually seizes power and becomes a teahouse keeper due to the Old Lord passing away and Cuckoo selling his land. Between beauty and intelligence it seems intelligence lead O-lan further thru life than it did for Cuckoo. Near the end of the novel Cuckoo was a way for Wang Lung to see Lotus due to her being the owner of a teahouse or brothel, between Wang Lung and Lotus when both Cuckoo and Lotus moved in. O-lan grew sad and angry not mainly because of Lotus and Wang Lung but of her enemy Cuckoo. “'Well, and you may have lived in the courts of the Old Lord, and you were accounted beautiful, but I have been a man's wife and I have borne him sons, and you are still a slave'" (Buck 187). This quote is important for character because O-lan is pointing out all of her accomplishments from working hard and she is also pointing out that Cuckoo’s beauty got her far with the Old Lord however,