ipl-logo

Wang Lung's Life In The Good Earth

515 Words3 Pages

In the novel The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, the reader follows the main character Wang Lung as he lives in the shifting nation of China. The novel begins on Wang Lung’s wedding day as he travels to the great house of the city to marry his new wife- a former slave named O-Lan. Wang Lung never truly loves O-Lan, but respects her for her hard work. Together the two work on the family’s small plot of land. O-Lan successfully births three children, and all is well until the famine strikes. A drought sweeps across the city, and the population starves. Lung’s family has no choice but to run to the city for their only chance at survival. In the city, Lung is exposed to a lifestyle he has never been accustomed to before. There is word of rebellion …show more content…

He becomes unhappy with his farmer lifestyle and turns to a materialistic life to satisfy him. He purchases a concubine, Lotus, and spends all his time with her. He spends money carelessly, giving Lotus whatever she desires, and ignores his own family to satisfy his selfish whims. O-Lan crumbles into depression, and spends the rest of her life in jealousy and despair. He sends his two oldest sons off to be scholars, and his youngest son is left in the dust. The youngest becomes angsty and spiteful and runs off to become a war general in the upcoming revolution. His eldest sons return to take care of the family home, and together they raise families of their own. O-Lan eventually passes away due to disease, and Lung is left alone with Lotus. As Wang Lung grows older, he becomes less in touch with the current world. He leaves his sons to do whatever they please- as long as they never sell his precious land. The novel ends with Wang Lung speaking to his sons and grandchildren. His grandchildren chide him for being so old-fashioned and not knowing of the revolution that has greatly changed the nation. His sons speak of selling the land, which brings Lung to tears as he cries that losing the land will break the family. His children assure him that that will never happen, but they proceed with the transaction

Show More
Related

Brief Summary: Citizen Barlow A Young African-American

821 Words | 4 Pages

Jiacheng Liu Final paper (a)summary Citizen Barlow a young African-American, arrives in Pittsburgh and is part of the freed slaves. While working at the local mill, Citizen steals a can of nails. Another man is accused and choose suicide rather than face arrest and a life in which it is unfairly identified as a thief. Citizen wants to redeem his guilt for causing the death of one person and looking at Aunt Ester, whose healing powers are legendary. A 285-year-old aunt Esther lives in a house with Eli, his friend and protector, and Black Maria, a young woman wearing the clothes for a living and who Aunt Esther hopes to pass his powers.

Read More

Should Jiang Ji-Li: Should We Stop Or Change Her Name?

650 Words | 3 Pages

Jiang Ji-li is walking home for lunch and passes the police station but, she does not continue on as usual. She ponders whether or not she should stop and change her name because an article was recently published about her family that exposed the fact that she is the grandchild of a landlord that once owned close to half of the city Nanjing. Jiang Ji- li is ashamed and annoyed by her classmate’s reaction to the report in the Workers Revolt. They all immediately turn on her by gossiping and teasing her.

Read More

Kellie Schmitt's The Old Man Isn T There Anymore

499 Words | 2 Pages

Travel Writer Kellie Schmitt wrote the essay The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore when she lived in China for two years. She writes about the death of a neighbor and a case of mistaken identity. It begins with the news that a family in her communal apartment building has experienced a loss in their family. Her confusion with the layout of the building, the identity of her neighbors and their connection with each other, and her halting progress with the Chinese language sets the stage for her confused progress through this strange social world.

Read More

Heavenly Khan Book Report

1247 Words | 5 Pages

Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.

Read More

The Fortunes Of Wangrin Summary

1431 Words | 6 Pages

Amadou Hampaté Bâ is extremely detailed throughout the book, The Fortunes of Wangrin, in explaining the colonial world in West African societies. He provides multiple examples in this work of fiction that precisely describe the factual aspects of African colonialism that we have discussed in class. I will point out a few of the examples that Bâ uses such as: limitations colonial governments set on Africans, the Métis relationships within colonies, and issues that arose, not only between Europeans and Africans, but within the native African communities as well. I will then point out certain details from the book that do not perfectly reflect the components of colonialism that we have studied in lecture.

Read More

14th Amendment Dbq

740 Words | 3 Pages

The Poverty-stricken area is filled with death and sickness. He describes it as a horrible place to have to live and work with starving orphans and many sick and dying people living in morbid conditions. The waste filled streets and fire prone buildings were just a regular thing for the people living under the poverty line. 2.) The story takes place in the slums of New York City.

Read More

Richard Kim Lost Names Essay

1574 Words | 7 Pages

Each chapter is a separate story; however, taken together, they form a vivid picture not only of life under colonial rule but of family dynamics as well. The first chapter, “Crossing”, tells the story of the family’s departure, across the frozen Tumen River, from Korea to Manchuria, where the father has taken a job at a Christian school shortly after his release from prison. The setting sun, “plummeting down toward the frozen expanse of the northern

Read More

The Pearl Shirt Reecountered Analysis

568 Words | 3 Pages

The third example “Husband and wife were originally birds in the same forest. When destiny determines each flies away” (p.36), Mei is saying Saoqiao is heartbroken and regretful, and even tried to commit suicide after her divorce. These three example conclude Menglong’s languages is hackneyed and low in literary because it quotes a set phrase dismissive of the true emotion between Xingge and Sanqiao. Feng Menglong’s content and method of his edification are different from traditional morality and Neo-Confucian ethics, but I’m still thinking, “The pearl Shirt Reecountered” is an interesting chapter to read because it is different from other books.

Read More

Cultural Collision In The Good Earth

414 Words | 2 Pages

The family had to travel hundreds of miles until they reached their destination. This made them even more weary by the time they had arrived. The first difference Wang Lung noticed was the dialect. Yes, the north and south both spoke Chinese, but according to Wang,

Read More

S. Buck's The Good Earth And The Possibility Of Anti-Orientalism

1841 Words | 8 Pages

The novel’s fictional version of China is sometimes an unfairly bleak portrayal of the country, and its most shocking scenes cohere with false Orientalist narratives of Western imperialism and Asian inferiority. However, for an American author, Buck writes with unique authority; few Westerners in her era could match her breadth of knowledge about China, and even fewer could match her dedication to the advancement of cultural empathy with China. Despite the inescapable influences of dominant Orientalist narratives, Buck was able to craft a socially truthful, yet relatable text for Western audiences. Looking back at the outsize impact of The Good Earth, it becomes clear that it defies conventional definitions of Orientalism. Rather than assigning the ‘Orientalist’ label as a veiled accusation of racism and ignorance, scholars should instead recognize that—with the appropriate author intentionality and real-world impact—certain Orientalist works could be culturally acceptable, if not valuable

Read More

The Importance Of Communication In The Joy Luck Club

1225 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the entire novel, the mothers and daughters face inner struggles, family conflict, and societal collision. The divergence of cultures produces tension and miscommunication, which effectively causes the collision of American morals, beliefs, and priorities with Chinese culture which

Read More

Similarities And Differences In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

1558 Words | 7 Pages

The book and the movie possess similar qualities. First, in both the movie and the book, all the mothers left their old lives in China for a new one in America. ” My mother could sense that the woman of these families also had

Read More

Comment Wang-Fu Fut Sauve Analysis

1011 Words | 5 Pages

This presents a development of characterisation when we meet Ling in the first paragraph of the extract. The description of Ling’s wife follows straight after. In the second paragraph , we encounter Wang-Fô whom inspired Ling to have a new perspective of the world as “Ling avait grandi dans une maison d’où la richesse éliminait les hasards.” The passage is written in an omniscient third person narrative. It is predominantly narrative

Read More

Things Fall Apart Cultural Analysis

3073 Words | 13 Pages

One of the more unusual cultural aspects that is discussed in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is the existence of an ogbanje. According to a study of Igbo culture conducted by researcher Bertram I. N. Osuagwu, an ogbanje is “an evil spirt causing people to die suddenly” (Osuagwu 36). Some believe that the ogbanje are deities that enter the world and become human beings, but because of a promise that they made to the spirit world, they die early in their lives (Osuagwu 36). In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s wife Ekwefi believes that she has been cursed by an ogbanje because of the abnormally high mortality rate of her children. Early in the novel, Achebe describes the hardship that Ekwefi has endured, stating “Ekwefi had suffered a good

Read More

Love In A Fallen City Analysis

1493 Words | 6 Pages

The fall of Hong Kong gives this couple some spaces to live together, to have an ordinary life. As the poem from the Book of Song says, humans are not able to control all the events, "but through natural turns of events and against all expectations" (Louie 23), the couple holds each other 's hands and gets married. Chang gives the story rather a happy ending, Fan Liuyuan is able to marry the woman he loves, and Liusu gets remarried, she gains back her social status. However, many scholars question that if wealth and social status are all Liusu desires. She achieves what the society expects of her, but maybe this is not what she desires in her deepest heart.

Read More

More about Wang Lung's Life In The Good Earth

Related Topics

Open Document