The Good Earth

For other uses, see The Good Earth (disambiguation).

The Good Earth

1st edition
Author	Pearl S. Buck
Original title	The Good Earth
Translator	Matthew Louie
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	None
Genre	Historical fiction
Publisher	John Day
Publication date	March 2, 1931
Media type	Print
Preceded by	East Wind: West Wind
Followed by	Sons

The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932. The best selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932, it was an influential factor in Buck's winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935).

The novel of family life in a Chinese village before World War II was a best-seller in both 1931 and 1932 and has been a steady favorite ever since. In 2004, the book was returned to the best seller list when chosen by the television host Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Book Club. The novel helped prepare Americans of the 1930s to consider Chinese as allies in the coming war with Japan.

A Broadway stage adaptation was produced by the Theatre Guild in 1932, written by the father and son playwriting team of Owen and Donald Davis, but it was poorly received by the critics, and ran only 56 performances. However, the 1937 film, The Good Earth, which was based on the stage version, was more successful.

Plot summary

The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day and follows the rise and fall of his fortunes. The House of Hwang, a family of wealthy landowners, lives in the nearby town, where Wang Lung's future wife, O-Lan, lives as a slave. As the House of Hwang slowly declines due to opium use, frequent spending, and uncontrolled borrowing, Wang Lung, through his own hard work and the skill of his wife, O-Lan, slowly earns enough money to buy land from the Hwang family. O-Lan delivers three sons and three daughters; the first daughter becomes mentally handicapped as a result of severe malnutrition brought on by famine. Her father greatly pities her and calls her "Poor Fool," a name by which she is addressed throughout her life. As soon as the second daughter is born, O-Lan kills her to spare her the misery of growing up in these hard times. The other daughter is eventually sold to a merchant. During the devastating famine and drought, the family must flee to a large city in the south to find work. Wang Lung's malignant uncle offers to buy his possessions and land, but for significantly less than their value. The family sells everything except the land and the house. Wang Lung then faces the long journey south, contemplating how the family will survive walking, when he discovers that the "firewagon," as the locals call the newly-built train, takes people south for a fee.

While in the city, O-Lan and the children turn to begging while Wang Lung pulls a rickshaw. Wang Lung's father begs but does not earn any money, and sits looking at the city instead. They find themselves aliens among their more metropolitan countrymen who look different and speak in a fast accent. They no longer starve, due to the one-cent charitable meals of congee, but still live in abject poverty. Wang Lung longs to return to his land. When armies approach the city he can only work at night hauling merchandise out of fear of being conscripted. One time, his son brought home meat he had stolen. Furious, Wang Lung throws the meat on the ground; believing that if they kept stealing, his sons would grow up as thieves. O-Lan, however, calmly picks up the meat and begins cooking it again; representing that she preferred health to honesty. When a food riot erupts, Wang Lung unwillingly joins a mob that is looting a rich man's house and corners the man himself, who fears for his life and gives Wang Lung all the money he has in order to buy his safety. Meanwhile, his wife had stolen jewels from another house, hiding them between her breasts.

Wang Lung uses the money to bring the family home, buy a new ox and farm tools, and hire servants to work the land for him. In time, two more children are born, a son and a daughter. Using the jewels O-Lan looted from the house in the southern city, Wang Lung is able to buy the House of Hwang's remaining land. He is eventually able to send his first two sons to school and apprentice the second one as a merchant. As Wang Lung becomes more prosperous, he buys a concubine named Lotus. O-Lan dies, but not before witnessing her first son's wedding. Wang Lung and his family move into town and rent the old House of Hwang. Wang Lung, now an old man, wants peace, but there are always disputes, especially between his first and second sons, and particularly their wives. Wang Lung's third son runs away to become a soldier. At the end of the novel, Wang Lung overhears his sons planning to sell the land and tries to dissuade them. They say that they will do as he wishes, but smile knowingly at each other.

Characters

• Wang Lung—a poor, hard-working farmer born and raised in a small village of Anhwei. He is the protagonist of the story and suffers hardships. He follows morals and Chinese traditions such as filial piety and duty to family. Believes the land is the source of happiness and wealth. He later becomes a very successful man and possesses a large plot of land which he buys from the House of Hwang. As his lifestyle changes he stops caring about his own life and he buys a mistress. In Hanyu Pinyin, Wang's name would be written "Wang Long." Wang is likely to be the common surname "Wang" represented by the character 王.

• O-Lan—first wife, used to be a slave in the house of Hwang. A woman of few words, she is simple minded but nonetheless is valuable to Wang Lung for the skills she acquired previously. She is considered plain or ugly;her feet are not bound. She is hardworking and self-sacrificing.

• Wang Lung's father—desires grandchildren to comfort him in his old age, becomes exceedingly needy and childish as the novel progresses.

• The Poor Fool—first daughter and third child of O-lan and Wang Lung, whose mental handicap was caused by severe starvation during her infancy. As the years go by, Wang Lung grows very fond of her.She mostly sits in the sun and twists a piece of cloath.

• Second Baby Girl—Killed immediately after delivery by O-Lan because the whole family was starving and there was no way to feed her. It is implied that a hungry dog eats her dead body.

• Nung En (Eldest Son)— as a little boy very respectful. and goes to school. is an irresponsible son and marries the daughter of the local grain merchant.

• Nung Wen (Middle Son)—is a responsible son of Wang Lung but is against his father's traditional ethics.

• Eldest Son's Wife—Daughter of a grain merchant and a city woman who hates the middle son's wife. She is brought to the house before O-Lan's death and is deemed proper and fit by the dying woman. Her first child is a boy.

• Middle Son's Wife—A jolly rural woman. Hates the first son's wife. Her first child is a girl.

• Youngest Son—Wang Lung originally intended for this son to be in charge of the farm whilst his other two sons were educated, but he became arrogant and ran away to become a soldier.

• Youngest Daughter—Twin sister of the youngest son, betrothed to a merchant's son earlier due to harassment from her cousin.

• Wang Lung's Uncle—a sly, lazy man who is highly ranked in a band of thieves known as the Redbeards and a burden to Wang Lung; becomes addicted to opium.Very fat, relies heavily on the tradition of younger generations who care for older generations.

• Uncle's Wife—becomes a friend of Lotus; also becomes addicted to opium.Very fat, greedy and lazy.

• Uncle's Son—Wild and lazy, leads Nung En into trouble and leaves to become a soldier. Disrespectful and visits many concubines.

• Ching—Wang Lung's faithful friend and neighbor. Dies and is buried near the entrance to the family graveyard. Wang Lung plans to be buried nearest to him.

• Lotus—Much-spoiled concubine and former prostitute. Eventually becomes fat. Helps arrange the eldest son's and youngest daughter's wedding. In the beginning older than she appears and complains a lot.

• Cuckoo—Formerly a slave in the house of Hwang. Becomes madame of the "tea house", eventually becomes servant to Lotus. Hated by O-Lan because she was cruel to her in the Hwang House.Where there is money she is there.

• Pear Blossom—Bought as a young girl, she serves as a slave. At the end of the novel she becomes Wang Lung's concubine because she says she prefers the quiet devotion of old men to the fiery passions of young men.At first she was the old lords slave.

Chronology

The novel's chronology is unclear. Wang Lung ages from around twenty at his marriage to over seventy at the close of the narrative, giving it a span of some fifty years. In an early chapter a barber offers to shave off Wang Lung's queue, an illegal act before the 1910s; but the author does not seem to have intended the time of the novel to extend beyond the time of its writing.

Influence

The work aroused considerable popular sympathy for China, and helped foment poor relations with Japan prior to World War II. Hilary Spurling's book "Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth" observes that Buck was the daughter of American missionaries and defends the book against charges that the book is simply a collection of racist stereotypes. In his view, Buck delves deeply into the lives of the Chinese poor and opposed "religious fundamentalism, racial prejudice, gender oppression, sexual repression, and discrimination against the disabled."

Writing Style

Throughout the novel, many crude events are described. Buck's views on these issues are never revealed, making this book an example of objective writing. Buck's purpose for writing The Good Earth was to show the troubles poor farmers experience in oppressive societies. The theme of women also comes up several times in the book. The character of O-lan, Wang Lung's wife, is the typical peasant wife, she is plain and loyal, but ignored by Wang Lung. Wang Lung shows some inner remorse for this but never expresses it until O-lan in on her deathbed. Lotus, Wang Lung's mistress, on the other hand is doted upon by Wang Lung for her beauty and as a result becomes spoiled.

Further reading

• W. John Campbell: The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics. Barnes & Noble Publishing 2002, ISBN 978-0-7607-1061-6, pp. 284–294 (restricted online copy, p. 284, at Google Books)
• Charles Hayford: What's So Bad About The Good Earth?. Education about Asia, volume 3, number 3, winter 1998

External links

• A Guide to Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth - Asia for Educators (Columbia University)