The Good Earth Research Paper

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.

Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.

He discusses all that is wrong with the wealthy individuals and how they are spoiled. He makes his argument by revealing how wealth is disposed of, “There are but three modes in which surplus wealth can be disposed of. It can all be left to the families of the descendants; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or, finally, it can be administrated during their lives by its possessors” (3). The author is Andrew Carnegie and intended audience is the general public but more specifically are those of wealth and make them conscious of how surplus wealth is disposed of. This is a primary source and reveals that even though this was how the world was a decade ago, it is quite similar and not much has

Though it is not one of the main themes in the novel, poverty and its effects on people can be seen abundantly in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The demonstration of poverty that I chose to discuss is how wealth causes a person to act toward others. The most notable examples are Janie’s three husbands, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake, and the way they treat Janie. In the novel, the wealthier a man is, the more power he has over people and the more entitled he feels.

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

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.

17). That the rich were mere trustees of their wealth, and the poor trusted them to use it in a beneficial way (“Celebrating Andrew Carnegie”). Like improving living conditions, building more homes, and improving sanitation in factories and buildings. Carnegie also explains how a wealth man can’t leave his wealth without gaining a distaste in peoples mouth that may not have been there before. To the common man, the wealth seemed like people of got it easy and didn't have any hardships in their lives, but Carnegie explains that wealth wasn't such a breeze, but a burden for

In his article “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues for the wealth to give back their wealth to the community by providing “public institutions of various kinds … [to] improve the general condition of the people” (Foner 30). Carnegie uses this article to promote his Gospel of Wealth idea and provide his interpretation of the changing America. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth stated that “those who accumulated money had an obligation to use it to promote the advancement of society” (Foner 28). Carnegie’s articles focuses on the themes of Capitalism and Inequality, which continue to shape society.

Andrew Carnegie's story, The Gospel of Wealth, captures the hardships and truth of being a wealthy man, especially if it is self-made wealth. Carnegie mentions how the wealth that these men have should be redistributed responsibility. By the redistribution of wealth, this would close the inequalities of the haves and the have-nots, but could also employ working-class men. The argument is in favor of being responsible with money and recirculating it into the United States economy as opposed to, spending money on excess and unnecessary items as well as, not just passing money to heirs. The surplus of wealth is best used when recirculated into the United States economy. This is portraying the

“ The acquisition of wealth is a work of great labor; its possession, a source of continual fear; its loss, of excessive grief.” This quote can apply in our lives and even some books we read like The Pearl. In the book, The Pearl, the wealth of Kino and his family is the pearl they find. It’s possession caused them great fear and labor from the beginning of the book, and it caused them grief towards the end. This quote applies to all parts of the book, and we will examine into all of the chapters to take a closer look.

“The Gospel of Wealth” was written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889. Carnegie used the essay to “argue that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role and thus improve the world,” though there were those that disagreed with him, writing their own share of essays in response and creating a lively debate (History Matters 1). Carnegie, unlike his peers, believed that it was the responsibility of the newly formed upper class, consisting of those who had made their own fortunes, to engage in acts of philanthropy. He believed that the best way to deal with the wealth inequality that resulted from their creation of their own fortunes was to redistribute their wealth in a manner that was not only responsible, but beneficial to all.

Words in the English language can have numerous definitions and connotations; the term rich is no different than the rest. The first definition most people think of when they hear the word "rich" is having loads of money, which is exactly what Pete has in “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff. This definition of rich and the title of the story lead many readers to assume that Pete is rich and his brother Donald is poor, but this is not necessarily the case. A person can also be rich because they supply a large amount of something that is needed, such as love or forgiveness. After further analysis and a different view of the definition of “rich,” it is discovered that Donald is in fact, the rich brother, not the monetarily rich Pete.

Attaining wealth brings with it many benefits. Certainly, wealth allows a person to buy more items and live a certain lifestyle. However, sometimes wealth comes at a cost—wealth can also blind a person to what is truly important in life and can lead a person to make choices that are actually harmful.   In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, the author explores the concept of wealth as a means of examining how individuals can lose sight of importance.

A friend of mine gave me a copy of The Good Earth as a birthday gift. Until then, I had never heard of the literary masterpiece or the author, Pearl S. Buck. The story captivated me. I found myself engrossed in the story of the poor farmer Wang Lung whose love for his land allowed him to overcome many odds including famine, flood and a revolution. Through hard work and dedication, Wang Lung became one of the wealthiest landowners in the Anweih province of China. Sadly, Wang Lung’s two sons did not share his passion for “the good earth” and cared only for their bequest. Wang Lung was still on his death bed when the two sons decided that as soon as their father died, they would sell the land