Shame And Ignorance In Pearl Buck's The Good 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.

Then all the villages ransacked Wang Lung’s House in hopes of finding food, but Wang Lung talked to them and said that he also didn’t have food and that sent them all off. In chapter 9 the famine has only gotten worse and O-lan gives birth to a dead child. Wang Lung and the rest of the villagers were starving and after some thought Wang Lung thought to go to the city. Then came 2 city folk and his uncle and they tried to force him to sell his land, but he refused and said; “that is taking my land for a gift” and “I shall never sell the land”.

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

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

The characteristic greed in The Good Earth plays a big role in Wang Lung’s life. Wang Lung’s uncle is the perfect example of greed because he is always asking for more. He goes as far as to join The Red Beards, a well known band of robbers, to gain wealth. Another person with a lot of greed in The Good Earth is Lotus. Lotus is very greedy because she is always asking for money to spend on luxuries. Another example is Wang Lung himself. Wang Lung never fully acknowledges the fact that Olan is primarily responsible for his wealth because she stole the jewels from the rich people in the south. One final example is the gateman at the House of Hwang in the beginning of the book. He takes advantage of Wang Lung and takes money from him for an entrance fee that didn’t exist. Also, the gateman joined the Red Beards when

The historical classic, “The Good Earth”, revolves around the life of Wang Lung, introducing the average Chinese farmer on his wedding day to the slave O-lan. Together, the newly married couple care for Wang Lung’s father and farm the land, prospering from the fruits of their labor. Their early life continues to bring great fortune when they are able to purchase land from the House of Hwang, who O-lan served, and when their first two children are born sons.

Even though “The Good Earth” and Things Fall Apart” are set in different cultures and at different periods of time, both books have many similarities with difference being caused mostly by the main character’s beliefs and personality. We will start off looking at the similarities. In the beginning of both books we see the protagonist goals which is basically to achieve greater wealth (especially for Okonkwo). Wang Lung is starting to accumulate land from the House of Hwang which in return gives him more land to farm on. He buys land because he sees it as the most important object in his life. Okonkwo is also trying to get more land and crops to increase his status in clan. As you can see everything is going well for the two, but then disaster struck for them. China has a drought which destroyed harvesting crops for farmers. Unfortunately farming is Wang Lung’s source of income. He also gets raided by his uncle and loses a good portion of property, because he refused to give up his land. Wang

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.

It always shows that the poor have a more honest-to-goodness side than the rich. Why? Probably because they’ve been through the rough patch and understand the concept of karma and virtue. They become a better person! A living example of this would be Jeannette Walls. After living with her parents and their lax idea of being poor, she learned that wasn’t the right way to live; Walls first realized this in Welsh when her mother refused to get up for work. She was tired of Rose Mary’s childish behavior and scolded her for it, which Rose Mary took offensively and threatened to tell her father; Rex found out, warned Walls to watch her mouth, and when she refused to apologize, he spanked her, something that’s never been done before. It dawned on her then on how ignorant her parents were; as a result, Jeannette took up a job at a local jewelry store to support her family, since neither of her parents were willing to. This proves how poverty can change a person morally as you can see that due to their living condition, Walls had to find a job. She could have left the family and lived out on her own, but ultimately, she decided to play out the virtue, charity, against the sin, Selfishness. This wasn’t her only time using virtuous powers;

“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

When we are introduced to Wang Lung in the beginning of the novel, he owns an average sized amount of land already in his possession, the same land that his father had farmed in his own time. However, as he becomes more successful later in his life, the farmer begins to purchase more land from the House of Hwang and from other farmers in his area. In comparison to others, Wang Lung considers his land to have rich soil and be perfect for farming, a prime example presented when he contrasts his own land to his uncle’s, which he describes to have “soil like lime” (Page 52) because of his uncle’s careless farming techniques. With his great wealth, Wang Lung is able to hire workers to tend to his land when he is in his old age, and to rent his land

For example, it is extremely apparent when he cheats on his wife. The narrator explicitly states “Every day he went to the tea shop” (181). Wang only went to the shop to “see” Lotus, and, eventually, he hardly saw O-lan, his wife, as his spouse anymore. These constant affairs set an example for Wang’s children. His oldest son was obviously led astray by his father’s lack of discipline and is shown when he goes to find an old lady to use as a prostitute.

After Olan found the pearls they had some money that they could use. Wang Lung used some of this money to marry a second wife who then just wore the pearls. “A virtuous woman’s husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” Wang Lung never listened to the advice that she gave, or thanked her for the stuff she did. Since Olan found the pearls, Wang Lung used her for that and he treated her in a poorly way; no person should be treated in such way, they shall be treated with respect.

​Consequently, a man who is “poor” in material possessions many times is “rich” in character, which is spiritually defined as the nine fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Having friends and family members who grew up poor and who worked hard to survive to obtain material possessions, their character was strengthened or made “rich” as a result of it. They had to do the jobs that many rich people would never do, such as being a maid, construction worker, janitor and many more domestic type jobs. Although they differ in terms of definition, being “rich” and being “poor” in character can be one of the same as “poor” in spirit or humble.  For example, my great grandmother was an Indian who was very poor, but you never would have known it because she was humble, kind, loving and a peaceful woman who always shared everything she had.