The Good Earth (1931) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Wang Lung: The main character, a farmer who is very hardworking. He marries O-lan, a slave from the House of Hwang. Wang Lung has many traditional values, loves the land for what it gave him, and often worships the gods that are made of earth in his earthen temple.
• O-Lan: Wang Lung's first wife, a former slave in the House of Hwang. She is hard-working, so much as to give birth one day, then immediately go out to the fields to work afterward. She is not very pretty, and Wang Lung will often point this out in fits of anger, or referring to it in casualness, however, she does like to feel pretty, like all women, and does wish for things like pearls. She has given birth to five children, four of them alive, one mentally disabled, and it is after that when she gets "fire in her vitals". making her unable to give birth. Although O-lan is mother to many children, she is able to slaughter without emotion, as shown during the drought, when she kills not only an ox for food, but her own child, in order to lessen it's suffering.
• Old man: Wang Lung's unnamed father, who is elderly, and become slightly eccentric; possibly has Alzheimer's. He is very weak, nearly blind and deaf, and does not do much but lie there and occasionally hobble from room to room.
• Nung En: Wang Lung's firstborn son, who grows up to be educated not only in the town, but in the great city as well. As a teen, he gets into trouble with his cousin, Wang Lung's uncle's son, who leads him to the house of the prostitutes and introduces him to drinking. This enrages Wang Lung, and after a severe beating, the elder son is sent to the city for scholarly purposes.
• Nung Wen: Wang Lung's secondborn son, who is educated as well, and an apprentice to a trade.
• The poor fool: Wang Lung's third child, an unnamed daughter who has a mental disability. Even as a teenager, she does not speak, and only sits in the sun on a blanket, unable to move due to her severe disability. Although she is girl and mentally disable -both of which were looked down upon- Wang Lung seems to favor her over his other children, calling her a poor fool affectionately, loving her.
• The third son: Wang Lung's third and youngest son who dreams of becoming a soldier against his father’s wishes.He is the twin of Wang Lung’s second daughter. He desires Pear Blossom, however she chooses his father instead.
• the second daughter: Wang Lung's second daughter, twin to his third son. She is pretty, unlike Wang Lung's other daughter, and although reluctant to do so, O-lan binds her feet tightly, wishing her to be loved by her husband as much as O-lan is unloved by Wang Lung.
• Uncle: Wang Lung's lazy, idle uncle, who blames his bad fortune on his fate, whereas the real problem is himself, proving to be a lazy man who cheats innocent people. He is part of a gang of robbers, and for that reason, Wang Lung is unable to kick him out of the great house he had worked so hard for.
• Uncle's wife: Wang Lung's uncle's wife who is unnamed. She is very helpful to Wang Lung, who often sends her out to do his business for him.
• Cousin: Wang Lung's uncle's son, lazy and idle like his father.
• Lotus: Wang Lung's concubine, and lover. At first, she was a prostitute, he a customer, but after promising her silver and gold and jewels and grand houses, she agreed to go live with him to please him as often as he wished. After Wang Lung returns to the land, she is slightly disgusted, but does not want lose her place in the great house. She is very petite, small and thin, beautiful like a lotus flower.
• Cuckoo: A clever slave from the House of Hwang who later runs the House of Flowers. Moves in with Wang Lung to help serve Lotus
• Ching: Faithful friend and neighbor of Wang Lung.
• Liu: Grain merchant whose daughter gets married to Wang Lung's oldest son and whose son gets married to Wang Lung's second daughter.
• Hwang: Family that held much money and power before the famine. They spent their riches without worry which lead to their downfall.
• Pear Blossom: A young slave who serves Lotus whose catches the eye of Wang Lung's youngest son. She prefers Wang Lung and becomes his mistress.

Quotes edit see section history

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• “When the rich are too rich there are ways, and when the poor are too poor there are ways.”

• “I am always glad when any of my books can be put into an inexpensive edition, because I like to think that any people who might wish to read them can do so. Surely books ought to be within the reach of everybody.”

  Pearl S. Buck

• “It did not do in this life to be too fortunate.”

• “But men must work on.”

• “"If you sell the land, it is the end."”

  Wang Lung

• “"Why are you wasteful? Tea is like eating silver."”

  Wang Lung's father

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• China

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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• Man’s Relationship to the Earth: Describe this theme.
• Wealth as a Destroyer of Traditional Values: As Wang Lung's wealth increases we can see the corruption of some of his morals but this corruption of morals is true to many men of this time. The House of Hwang is a great example of wealth leading to destruction of values and morals
• The Oppression of Women in Chinese Culture: Women were treated incredibly different in Chinese culture at the time than they are now in American culture. Women were considered property of their husband and their purpose in life was to have children and be a housekeeper. Olan is a example of this when she sleeps with the oxen on her wedding night after preparing for all her husbands guests.
• Birth, Death, and the Cycle of Nature
• Religion: Religion plays a role in this story as well. We see O-lan and Wang Lung worshipping to earth gods as well as buying gods to decorate their homes with
• Foot-binding
• The House of Hwang
• O-lan’s Pearls
• Beauty
• Man's Connection to Earth
• Communist/Capitalist Political Systems

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Sons.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Pearl S. Buck (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Nobel Prize in Literature (1938)
• Pulitzer Prize (1932: Novel)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.52

Notes for Parents edit see section history

It's a good read for anyone pubescent to adult.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia
• What's so Bad about the Good Earth?

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history