The Good Earth Quotes

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

Elie Wiesel makes this statement and asks these question as he and his father walk towards what they think is their deaths. All the men and boys around him, including his father, are praying for God to answer their wishes. Elie begins to question God and where He is, as he watches not only men and women be burned, but also infants. This quote reflects Elie beginning to question his God and his faith.

Wang Lung shows frugality and prudence with his money for the future along with loyalty to his father. Wang Lung, although somewhat reckless in spending for his wedding day, saved up enough money to be prepared, and uses his money sparingly, showing his thought of the future. Wang Lung is also optimistic about his future on the day he goes to pick up O-Lan by thinking of how wonderful it will be to have a wife and sons to carry on his legacy. Wang Lung cares about his future, and tries to prepare to have a good one, even when times look tough. Wang Lung also shows loyalty, with a great sense of filial piety and respect toward his father.

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

The Good Earth, by Pearl S Buck, is set in China during the early 20th century, on a farm owned by Wang Lung. Wang Lung is, at the beginning of the novel, a traditional poor farmer who works from “sunup to sundown” on his field. He marries and has children with a former slave of the great House of Hwang, named O-lan; they have several sons and daughters together. By the end of the novel, the family is wealthy enough to be called a “Great House” and because of this, his family is able to live in luxury. Only one son, the third son, works as a farmer until he quits to become a soldier. This causes the sons to think that the family’s traditions no longer extend to them and that they do not have to follow them. In The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck,

At first, Wang Lung struggles to take care of him and his father. His father sets an arranged marriage with a slave girl from the House of Hwang named O-Lan, they get along fine. O-Lan doesn’t speak much, but when she

Once the novel comes to an end, we notice clearly the way Wang Lung changed. In the beginning of the novel we learned many ancient Chinese traditions by observing Wang Lung as a simple peasant, but as he becomes a wealthy landowner his life collapses. This rapid change of social class makes it difficult for anyone who intends to keep their traditional values until their death. This fantastic novel by Pearl S. Buck reminds us that we can never forget our traditional values, because if that happens your life will collapse just the way Wang Lung unfortunately

I honestly believe that the main idea or theme to this book is that you should never let riches change you. The moral is not stated on just one page but throughout the story. Wang Lung personality is changing because of his riches and his family is sort of trying to teach him a lesson. He started a poor hard working farmer and now he is a rich, mysterious business man. The riches are starting to change him which the book is trying to teach us exactly not to do. “I heard you were rich but I didn’t know you were this rich (136).” It almost seems like Wang Lung is trying to impress everyone with his good fortune and is basically rubbing his riches in everyone’s face. The book is giving us examples of what riches could do to us and the author is using this book as a guide to help people, possibly. You should never let your possessions change who you are and letting money control your life is a sign of weakness mentally in the brain. Wang Lung could not control his wallet which got him into a lot of trouble.

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.

I found myself using many adjectives to describe Wang Lung. Arrogant, narcissistic, self-indulgent, and so on and so forth. As I continued to read, the character by no means grew on me, but rather my contempt for him only increased. Wang Lung is the central character in Pearl S Buck's, the Good Earth. The Good Earth is set in China, and is about a farmer and his family in a time of great change in the world.

Family loyalty in China has had a tumultuous past filled with fluctuation between remaining loyal to the state, yet also remaining loyal to blood relatives. In the autobiography that also serves as a biography, Wild Swans, by Jung Chang, this is seen. The book, which outlines the biographies of the author’s grandmother and mother, as well as her own autobiography, gives an interesting look into the lives of the Chinese throughout the 20th century. This book is beyond eye opening, and is truly a raw glimpse into the daily lives of women throughout China, struggling with situations that no human should ever be thrown into. I loved this book and was truly scared about the world that it opened me up to. The book does many things well, but also has its faults. The author consistently and clearly exemplifies the social hierarchy that consumes China, as well as its obsession with cultural stagnancy. The author also gives intense imagery that thrusts the reader into the scene, and creates a new reality showcasing the truths of China. Although both of those things take main stage in the book, there are a few weaknesses in the book. One, asking the question of how she had such clear anecdotes on her grandmother and mother’s life, how did she have such intimate details? The second shortcoming that Jung Chang had a subjective view of China, partly being that she loves China despite the cards it has dealt her. Her life was not short of hardships, but her family was typically

Towards the beginning of Kindred, when Rufus is a young boy, Rufus is very trusting of Dana, and in turn Dana is very willing to help and guide Rufus. At this point Rufus does not fully understand the concept of slavery, or black versus white. Rufus does see that black people are treated as below him, but he does not understand why nor does he take advantage of this, yet. Rufus simply sees Dana as a woman who dresses as a man who helps him when he is in desperate need of help. As a boy, Rufus is very trusting of Dana, as Dana is trusting of Rufus. As shown in, “Rufus grabbed my arm and held it, obviously trying not to cry. His voice was a husky whisper. ‘Don’t go Dana.’ I didn’t want to go. I liked the boy” (66). This quote takes place right

At first glance, the storyline does not align but as the novel is further analyzed, Wang Lung’s commitment to the land connects with his wife, O-lan. When O-lan dies, Wang Lung loses his commitment to the land. Throughout the novel, Wang Lung’s feelings

Han Kang’s use of comparison between two closely related but very different characters demonstrates society’s definition of a dutiful wife. Unable to withstand the embarrassment of having a wife he is not proud of, he leaves her. Han Kang used the sense of pressure to depict not only the public opinion, but also the force that drives Mr. Cheong’s actions.

Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English.  And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!  She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for.”  (Tan 1)  The culture in China the mothers of Joy Luck dealt with was unlike anything their daughters could ever imagine or appreciate. Between the mothers Lindo, Suyuan, An-mei and Ying-ying, the Chinese culture forced them into being married by a matchmaker, giving up babies, witness desperate attempts to save loved ones, and having an abortion.  In many ways the Chinese culture scared each woman, although they were proud of their heritage, their daughters deserved better.  These four mothers had very high hopes for the better lives that they wanted to give their daughters by raising them in America.  They didn’t like or want to have their daughters looked down upon, just because they were Chinese women.  From each of their own experiences, they learned that they wanted to improve the lives of their following generation.