Essay on Good Earth

Submitted By mm0704

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Melanie Morales
8th period
8/13/14
O-lans pearls Although there are many symbols found in The Good Earth, there was one symbol that really stood out to me and that symbol was O-lans two pearls. I believe the two pearls have a much more complex meaning than just money, to O-lan they are a form of appreciation from Wang Lung. The first example of this symbol is found in chapter sixteen, when Wang Lung first learns about the gemstones his wife found. Wang Lung tells O-lan to give him the gemstones and two pearls, but O-lan asks if she can keep the pearls. It is very odd that O-lan speaks, and even more out of character that she asks for something from Wang Lung, this break in character led me to believe that the two pearls had a greater meaning to O-lan that just wealth, they meant that for once she felt respected and appreciated by someone. Another example in the book is found in chapters twenty and twenty one, when Wang Lung brings Lotus to the house as his mistress and then cruelly takes the two pearls away from O-lan to give to Lotus, metaphorically speaking, it’s like he shoved a knife in O-lan and then twisted it. The one thing that O-lan truly wants is to be valued, and appreciated because she has never experienced it, the pearls were the one thing that made her feel valuable, and when Wang Lung takes them from her it angers her and she becomes more forthright. In conclusion, the two pearls symbolized respect and appreciation to O-lan. When they

The Good Earth

The Good Earth Wang lung is a poor farmer who takes care of his sick father. He is honorable and follows traditional Chinese customs. He has just reached the age to marry and his father selected him a slave girl to marry. He goes to the house of Hwang to pick up his soon to be wife. There the woman of the house give him the girl and sends him on his way. Her name is O’lan and she is not pretty but does not have a split upper lip like wang lung requested. When he sees her he is very disappointed…

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Essay on Good Earth

The Good Earth In the book Good Earth Pearl S. Buck writes about the daily struggles of Wang Lung’s adulthood and his quest for peace within himself. Whether it’s a drought or his eldest son bickering with his second son, he is never able to find inner peace. “As for Wang Lung’s sons, there was a continual unrest” (Buck 668). In order to find pleasure, Wang Lung looks to his farm, concubines, and money; but will this be enough to bring Wang Lung the inner peace he so desperately desires? When…

Words 630 - Pages 3

The Good Earth Summary

The novel, The Good Earth, begins with Wang Lung, a poor farmer in China, anxiously waking up on his wedding day. He has not yet met the woman he is to wed, for she is a slave, named O-Lan, whom his father had requested from the wealthy House of Hwang. Wang Lung takes care of his father, despite his father’s constant complaining and rudeness. Wang Lung bathes himself for the first time in a while on his wedding day, despite his father’s complaints of the wasting of water. Wang Lung, excited for his…

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Diction In The Good Earth

The Earth sustains many individuals and provides resources to ensure survival and prosperity. The "troposphere" layer where temperature and weather takes place, determines the conditions of nature and can be unpredictable by humans. In the novel, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Busk, farmer Wang Lung depends on his land to provide for his family. When the weather takes place, making the wheat unable to grow, Wang struggles to make sure he offers enough for his family. As a farmer, status is important…

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The Good Earth Quotes

it and to think what he could do to enjoy the days of his manhood. (170) In the book The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Wang Lung's love for the land is true and pure, but his love is weakened by his desire, and fear for the lack of wealth and power. The land has always been there for Wang Lung, since the day he was born. The land is the only thing that Wang Lung loves consistently, and that is because the earth is constant. Unlike food or money, it is something that cannot be taken away from him.…

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Women In The Good Earth

this very accurately when she wrote in The Good Earth, “and roots, if they are to bear fruits, must be kept well in the soil of the land.” Not only is this true for crops but it is also accurate when it comes to people. Oliver is a prime example of someone who nurtures another in order for them to succeed. She supports her husband without question so that he can prosper. At the end of the novel, Wang Lung finally realizes that Oliver truly is “the good earth” since she is the rock upon which he has…

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The Rich In The Good Earth

In the novel, The Good Earth author Pearl S. Buck describes the life of a struggling farmer Wang Lung. The summer season dries up the crops prompting Wang Lung and family to travel South where Wang and his family live on the outskirts of the city. Buck portrays the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer when the poor revolt against the rich in the South, the poor having to sell their daughters for money, and the rich in the House of Hwang expending their wealth unto poverty. The Lung household…

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The Good Earth Analysis

son-sell the land! It is the end of a family-when they begin to sell the land. Out of the land we came and into it we must go… if you will hold your land you can live… no one can rob you of land… if you sell the land, it is the end.” In the book The Good Earth morals like filial piety and humbleness before their gods allowed Wang to grow into a respectable man while his work ethic of working the land from dawn to dusk allowed him to become a very wealthy man too.These ideals are the same that brought…

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Wang Dynasty In The Good Earth

to take care of tasks for them. On the other hand, poor people stayed on their land and worked hard throughout their entire lives just to “make ends meet.” Wang Lung is one of the people in the latter category. The main character of the book The Good Earth, Wang Lung works constantly on his farm to make enough money for his father and himself to survive. This begins to change, however when he marries O-lan, a slave from the great House of Hwang. His poor family, who never even had enough tea for Wang…

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Wang Lung In The Good Earth

In The Good Earth, Wang Lung is a man who lives in China during the early twentieth century. He has very few advantages in the early years of his life, but later becomes more prosperous. Lung, like his neighbors, struggles to provide the basic necessities of life for himself and his family. For some time, this socioeconomic system holds Wang Lung in a position where he is unable to improve the way he lives. However, he is later able to prosper financially as a result of his many years of hard work…

Words 709 - Pages 3