Comparing Wang Lung and His Uncle in The Good Earth

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Comparing Wang Lung and His Uncle in The Good Earth

Everybody has their own ways of doing things. From spending money to the way they cook. In The Good Earth Wang Lung differs greatly from his selfish uncle. Wang Lung and his uncle are two similar men. They both come from the same type of heritage and they live in the same village. They are both married and they both have children that will carry on their family name. But still everybody is different. These two men differ when it comes to a number of things but their difference is in money.

Wang Lung is a responsible man who uses his money wisely. He uses his money to buy things that his family has a necessity for and saves some for the winter or for the upcoming year. He puts his money into important investments that will promise him great wealth in the future. He is a very compassionate man who cares for his children by buying clothes for his children, feeding them healthy servings of food, and he also still manages to take care of his ever-aging father. Wang Lung values money and would never think of using it in ways that would hurt his family of himself in any way.

The uncle, on the other hand, does not care how he uses his money. As long as it helps himself in some way then he is happy. He sells his harvest as soon as it is ripe and then always ends up running out of money before the end of winter. The uncle farms on barren land that has no nutrients left in it. Since he is always gambling his money away, he cannot afford to buy new land and receive some kind of decent crop from his investment. The Uncle is so selfish that he threatens to tell the village if Wang Lung does not give him money and food. In the Chinese culture this would be considered dishonorable if Wang would not help his family. It is their duty to help if their family, even if that means that Wang would have less than everybody else. The uncle spends his money on expensive delicacies for his wife who is overweight as it is. He could save the money and use it in the winter when they are in need the most.

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