Even in His Rise to Power, Wang Lung Respected and Loved the Earth

His moral ambiguity is heavily influenced by outside forces in his life that changes his view upon the world. The most excusable action in the eyes of the readers is when he commits a crime because his family is struggling in the southern city. Other citizens stricken by poverty tell Wang Lung that the riches do not belong to the wealthy, but to the poor. This conflicts with his belief that God determines one’s fate and way in life. Wang Lung goes against his morals and commits robbery because of his influence from others and the situation he was thrust into. This action determines Wang Lung’s wealthy future, but also symbolizes overcoming an obstacle, in this case, overcoming his internal conflict with his morals. The audience begins to notice the shift in Wang Lung’s character which will continue to develop negatively as his values are no longer intact.

Both worked hard and bought a great amount of land so they could increase their fortune. To manage all that wealth Wang Lung had to be smart and never forget about his traditional values. Wang Lung was held in his wants and desires as he wasted all his family’s savings to buy more land. By this time in the novel Wang Lung was being a terrible example for his kids. He would make terrible decisions economically speaking, which could lead to very complex and bad situations. Speaking about bad situations the famine in the ancient china begun. "Hunger makes thief of any man." ( Page. 122) The quote above makes it clear that becoming a wealthy man didn’t change Wang Lung completely; he still obtained very important values. With those traditional values in mind he could understand that during the famine it was hard to survive and this could lead to various

In The Good Earth, main character Wang Lung is bound to his uncle because of filial piety. Wang Lung’s uncle is a lazy and imposed upon Wang Lung and his family throughout the novel, continuously using Wang Lung’s duty of filial piety to silence him. This passage from the novel sums up Wang Lung’s experience with his uncle. Wang Lung's Uncle began at this time to become the trouble which Wang Lung had surmised from the beginning that he might be. This uncle was the younger brother of Wang Lung's father, and by all the claims of relationship he might depend upon Wang Lung if he had not enough for himself and his family” (59). As his father’s brother, and his elder, Wang Lung must respect his uncle and listen to his wishes. Wang Lung’s obligation to respect the older generation leads to his uncle continuously exploiting him, in his poverty and his wealth. Wang Lung’s uncle is

The mist in opening scene and overall color tone of grey suggests that Wang is paddling into a world of dullness. With his houseboat- his only sanctuary- Wang travels around to make a living by performing Bianlian in return of donation from people who appreciate his art on the street. Desperation and poverty are not only accompanying people in the slave market but also Wang: his wife left him after the death of his son; his only companion is not a human but a monkey. Master Liang’s confession that “ we all have our own sorrows” reflects the folk artists fate of twists and turns and bitterness. During one performance, Wang is intimidated and oppressed by soldiers, but he can only chant woefully “The dragon in the shallows is toyed with by the shrimp”. Many proverbs like this in the film convey to audiences his hardship and helplessness. Government corruption is also disclosed in the movie when Wang is falsely charged of all kidnap cases and imprisoned. In his quest for an heir, Wang visits Buddhist temple to pray and buys a Buddha to worship in the hope that it may gift him a son. All Wang’s spiritual sustenance is on the Buddha body. This showed Wang’s inner weakness and helplessness towards his own destiny.

In Pearl S. Buck’s novel, The Good Earth, the protagonist, Wang Lung, starts out as a very poor farmer in China. He marries a slave named O-lan and starts a family with her. Famine soon strikes the town and there is no food to be found anywhere. Wang Lung moves his family South in hopes of finding a job there. Eventually, a group of poor people raid the homes of the rich. Wang Lung and O-lan both join in, getting away with enough gold and valuables to get back to their land in the North. Wang Lung uses this stolen money to buy more land and hire laborers. He quickly becomes one of the richest men in his town. Wang Lung, however, does not know that with great wealth comes great responsibility. His wealth corrupts him and his moral judgements become blurred. Wang

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.

Before analyzing the status of girls and women in ancient China, we need to understand the fundamental principles of morality that dominated in the society in that time period.

“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.

Wang Lung from “The Good Earth” and Okonkwo from “Things Fall Apart” are both very similar characters. They both have a similar story and beliefs, yet they are quite different in regards to how their stories play out and how they value their beliefs in the end. This paper will look at both of the characters traits and stories to examine how they compare and contrast and how it affect them.

At the beginning of the book, the author really describes how Wang Lung is feeling. Wang Lung really did not want to be in that house any longer. He didn’t like anything about it. His father was really cruel, he did all the work and he hated working so much. This is probably why he wanted to get a wife so badly.

“Now if the water had receded...Wang Lung would never have gone again to the great tea shop.”. “[He] might have forgotten the pointed face on the scroll.” (Buck 176) The waters not receding lead Wang to lust, this idleness lead to lust, and his lust lead to trouble at his home. The biggest problem, however, that Wang Lung contends with comes in chapter 13 when they have to live in the south. “Not food enough to feed savage hunger and not cloths enough to cover bone.”. “Wang Lung lived in the foundations of poverty.” (Buck 113). This was his biggest challenge because no food, no clothes, and horrible poverty as he had not previously known. In conclusion Wang Lung has faced dire hardships, but none compare to his time in the

Timothy Brook’s book, The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China is a detailed account of the three centuries of the Ming Dynasty in China. The book allows an opportunity to view this prominent time period of Chinese history. Confusions of Pleasure not only chronicles the economic development during the Ming dynasty, but also the resulting cultural and social changes that transform the gentry and merchant class. Brook’s insights highlight the divide between the Ming dynasty’s idealized beliefs, and the realities of its economic expansion and its effects. Brook describes this gap through the use of several first hand accounts of individuals with various social statuses.

Wang Lung and O-lan had a very close connection to their land. He builds this connection to earth of how the earth has done everything for him. And once his life is over he will be part of the earth and he will provide for the next generation.

Wang Lung’s son is being influenced and strictly guided by his father to live the way most pleasing to Wang Lung. Giving him a restricted worldview assuming slaves are unacceptable humans to

Wang Lung’s uncle is very lazy and vicious. He is an unsuccessful farmer due to his idleness. Sometimes he sells his crops when they are still in the ground because reaping the harvests strip too much effort from the idle fool. Since he does not make much money from his harvests, he blames it on bad luck and depends on Lung for money. Since society operates in filial piety, Wang Lung has to give his uncle the money. Lung’s uncle also participates in gang violence and cannibalism. He is not rewarded by the Gods. He did, however, have wealth and power by living in the House of Hwang with Wang Lung but only because Lung has to obey him. Lung’s uncle never finds tranquility. He is never content with what he has. He is always striving for more in vicious and idle ways which cause his unfulfilling life. Wang Lung’s cousin is also idle and vicious. He never learns to work and is very lusty. When he lives with Wang Lung’s family, he introduces Lung’s eldest son to prostitutes. He also flirts with his relatives and practices incest. He is not rewarded by the Gods because he is so vicious. Instead, he never lives a fulfilling life. When he grows up he abandons his wife and unborn