Overview: The Good Earth By Pearl S. Buck

Christian Rasmussen
Geography 120
12/4/16
Professor Knapp
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck was written in 1931. The novel begins in impoverished, rural China at the beginning of the 1900’s. The main character of the book is named Wang Lung and he is poor farmer who has a love for the land. He marries a slave through an arranged marriage named O-Lan and they soon begin a family. Their first child is a boy and Lung is ecstatic about that. The couple harvests an ample amount and purchases a fertile piece of land from the Hwangs. After another successful harvest, the riches from Lung are given to a covetous uncle due to Chinese traditions. The two have another boy and a girl. Following their first daughter’s

The family was dependent upon their harvest and their income was determined by the success they had annually. An obvious result of poverty was the first daughter having a mental handicap due to mal-nutrition and O-Lan killing their fourth child to provide for the rest of her family. Such harsh realities point to the politics and culture of this Chinese society. The sons were valued highly and the daughters were treated as if they were animals. This was all due to Chinese traditions and the expectations of what women were actually worth in this book. The women portrayed in the novel were slaves, opium addicts or mentally handicapped. A clear statement about the society and misogyny in rural

The nation is so large that it was difficult to lay a foundation of one government and one culture. China overthrew the imperial power of the Qing dynasty and therefore the country was divided even more. Since the country was essentially shattered into smaller pieces, independent farmers like Wang Lang were forced to answer to Chinese War-Lords. These War-Lords were only in charge because of their education and ability to read. Therefore, a great emphasis was placed in teaching Wang Lung’s first son to read and write so that he would be able to communicate and not be taken advantage of. Neighboring provinces often wouldn’t speak the same dialect of Chinese and it would lead to many conflicts. Language is a clear example of a centrifugal force. Another cultural difference that was accepted in the book was the Chinese tradition and burden of taking care of one’s elders. Perhaps accepted in their society, anyone else’s society would refrain from forced care of elders. Therefore, the book places a strong comment on this Chinese principle because it did lead to much strife in Chinese