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Wealth And Morals In The Good Earth By Pearl S. Buck

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Wealth and Morals Within The Good Earth Affluence is a curse as much as it is a luxury, for it is often placed above beliefs and merits in society. Opulence can result in overbearing pride, which frequently destroys relationships, resulting in loneliness and dissatisfaction. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck serves as a realistic representation of how wealth and pride may corrupt one’s values by showing characters’ transformations from modest to arrogant and displaying how a new lifestyle can ruin the peace of a small family. The main character of The Good Earth, Wang Lung, serves as an astonishing example of a poor man whose merits were negatively impacted by gaining an influx of wealth. He starts as a young, resourceful farmer who is about …show more content…

He resorts to moving South to beg for the rich to spare his family money. He catches a glimpse of how it truly is in the south, where “men came and went along the cobbled highway to the city, busy and intent and never glancing at beggars” (Buck 96). During this time, Wang Lung converses with a man who lives in the hut next to his. The man tells Wang Lung that his suffering will not be eternal, for there is a way “‘when the rich are too rich’” (Buck 118). He hears of a great house on the other side of the wall, a house where “‘even the servants eat with chopsticks of ivory bound with silver.” (Buck 118-119). The war that everyone has heard of approaches the southern city and the wealthy people of the great house beyond the wall evacuate, leaving their belongings behind. Wang Lung came upon a rich lord who begged him for his life, and received money in return (Buck …show more content…

His sons marry and bring two women into the courts who happen to be polar opposites. One is from the city, and the other is a woman from their town. This causes chaos and tension, which seems to be interminable in the household to Wang Lung. He does everything in his power to try and bring tranquility and happiness back to the courts, but it does not work because his first two sons now have different opinions on how money should be spent and distributed in the house. When someone takes on a new lifestyle filled with wealth along with the pride of that wealth, there is never peace in a family. Everyone’s merits are corrupted with pride and power over

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