Finding Fulfillment in The Good Earth
The Good Earth is a novel written by Pearl S. Buck. It is set in China and on the day of Wang Lung's marriage. Wang Lung is a poor peasant farmer whose love for the land sustains him through the difficult times of his life. He married a slave from the great house, and he moves from a poor, humble, country farmer to a wealthy, respected, landowning patriarch. He moves into the house that he bought his wife from, and dies content with his faith in the good earth. The name of the novel is misleading because we have to wonder if the earth is really good to Wang Lung.
"There was only this perfect sympathy of movement, of turning this earth of theirs over and over to the sun, this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods...Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. They worked on, moving together-together-producing the fruit of this earth." (Ch. 1, pg. 22). People have taken their turn on the earth. The lived and died for the earth; the earth provided them with food and with shelter. "Well and [the children] must all starve if the plants starve." (Chapter 8, pg. 48) There are times of drought and times of flooding. There were times where there wasn't any food and the rains ruined shelter. Wang Lung spent most of his life rebuilding what was ruined, and when it was rebuilt, it was ruined again. But after many years of working hard, Wang Lung gained enough money to own lots of land. The only difference between a pheasant l...
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...h he forgot it for many months together, when spring came each year he must go out on to the land." (Chapter 34, pg. 257) Wang Lung was not aware of his son's interest in selling the land though, and thus died contently. He wished he had done things differently with O-lan and probably would have been happier if he was still a pheasant but we all wish there were things we could have done differently. To Wang Lung the earth was good. He never saw the ending picture and how his faith in the earth wouldn't carry on because of his money hungry sons, but his love for the land ended with him, and peace in his heart.
Works Cited:
Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth. New York: Washington Square P, 1994.
Kang, Younghill. Review of The Good Earth. Rpt. in The Good Earth. Ed. Peter Conn. New York: Washington Square P, 1994. 367-68.
...e Earth and Its Peoples, Second Edition. CENGAGE LEARNING, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
I would like to point out that Wang Lung was never the most filial of men. Early in the novel, we saw him slip up once or twice. However, at a younger age, he felt guilty when this happened and was able to hold his tongue in most situations. Wang Lung’s uncle is able to exploit Wang Lung based on his filial piety. When the uncle, a lazy man who blames his struggles on an “evil destiny”, asks his nephew to borrow money, Wang Lung explodes, saying, “‘If I have a handful of silver it is because I work and my wife works, and we do not…[let our] fields grow to weeds and our children go half fed!’” (65). But right after he lets these words slip, he “[stands] sullen and unmovable” (66) because knows that his outburst is wrong. However, later in the novel, Wang Lungs lack of sense for filial piety grows evident as he becomes more arrogant. For example, when he is nearing the end of his life, Wang Lung asks without a second thought to be buried below his father but above his uncle and Ching. Asking to be buried above his uncle makes the statement that Wang Lung believes he is a greater man than his uncle. Before his rise through the ranks of society, Wang Lung would never have even considered being buried above his uncle, even though he always had a disliking for him. However, because of his power, he feels that he has the right to disrespect his
Throughout the book The Good Earth written by Pearl S. Buck, it shows the evolvement of the main character Wang Lung and how owning or not owning land in the 1920s is affected by peasants in China. It also shows the struggles of a peasant’s life, going through poverty and what happens when wealth enters their lives. Owning land as a peasant is an important aspect of their living style, simply because they live off of what they are able to grow that season. They depend on their land for resources to provide for themselves and family; and also selling crops or trading crops in order to make money. The peasants of China exemplify how important their crops and land are to them throughout the whole book by showing love and compassion for them; but,
In the story, Goodman Brown decides to embark on a night journey, with some kind of evil intentions. He is guided by a man who resembles his grandfather, and despite his hesitancy, proceeds to his destination. Brown is shocked to see religious figures along the way, who share the same evil intentions. He is driven to meet the end when he hears his wife Faith's voice calling out. She is his one strand of good that he struggles to hold on to; when he realizes she might be captured by evil, he fills with fear. At the end is their meeting with the devil-figure, where he calls all people to come together under evil.
Jeff Grogger, Lynn A. Karoly, Jeff Grogger. Welfare Reform: Effects of a Decade of Change. New York: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Hasking, Ron. "Work over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law." Brookings Instituteion Press [Wahington, DC] (2006) 364
Halprin, Anna, et. al. Circle the Earth: Dancing with Life on the Line. , 1987. The Power of
Bulliet, Richard W. Earth and Its Peoples: a Global History. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
The story Young Goodman Brown is about a man and his faith in himself, his wife, and the community they reside in. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before sunrise. The time era is approximately a generation after the time of the witch trials. Goodman Brown's struggle between good and evil is a struggle he does not think he can face. He reiterates his false confidence to himself repeatedly.
Young Goodman Brown is a holy man, with a repressed wish inside of him to explore the unknown. This wish came to him through a dream and changed the rest of his life dramatically. The story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us the possible outcomes of Young Goodman Brown's decision to explore into the forest to find the unknown. Hawthorne also uses symbols in the story to represent good and evil. It is a story about a man whose true identity prevailed and destroys him from the inside out.
[] Greg Boyd. n.c. Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" Book Review. Retrieved November 2, 2013. http://gregboyd.blogspot.ca/2008/04/echhart-tolles-new-earth-book-review.html
But when Goodman Brown saw his Faith willing to except the Devils offerings he yelled out to her, to look to the heavens and not to except what the Devil offered. In that moment he came back to his loving and caring husband again. She had brought him back from the Devil just as she had delivered him. When he had awoke he was confused and paranoid at what he saw, the good old minister was getting his sermon ready and Old Deacon Goodkin was in worship. And to see Goody Cloyse catechizing a child broke him, he grabbed the child to keep the child safe from the evilness the women could put in her. Still not able to shake the paranoia as he went around the next corner he saw his wife was so joyful but then he looked away and walked right by her wondering if he had dreamed what happened. At the end he found out …it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become from the night of that fearful dream (Hawthorne 101). After that he became closed off, cowardly, and died a lonely and sad man. He turned away when his family would pray and not even a few neighbors went to his grave …they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; his dying hour was
"Young Goodman Brown" is about one man's journey through the woods with the devil and his encounters that make him doubt his faith in himself, his wife, and the community in which they reside. The theme of this story is that beyond any intangible evil, the evil that men do is ultimately the more damaging. Throughout the story Hawthorne uses setting and characters as symbols representing different aspects of good and evil and he uses the plot to develop the eventual win-over of evil over "Goodman" Brown's "Faith."
Through means of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne manipulates allegorical dimension in order to lure readers into his writing. He creates doubt and curiosity within the readers’ minds by meshing both the actual and fantasy; furthermore, altering certain truths and consequently creating an imaginary world, which marks the success of Hawthorne’s technique. A definite sense of corruption is seen as Young Goodman Brown converses with the Devil. Hawthorne successfully manipulates the environment within the story to take the form of meaningful symbols, staying true to his influence by the Romantic period. In my opinion the most interesting aspect of the story is when the narrative
The journey to achieve the good life on a personal level has defined human life across all cultures and time periods. Although we human beings have this similar goal in life, what we consider to be the “good life” differs from person to person. The Hindu people, for example, believe that one reaches the good life or enlightenment when he/she finds and truly understands Atman, the inner self or soul. In my opinion the good life involves following one’s internal ideals and values. These values should allow him/her to enjoy the good life in spite of time progression and outside influences such as material wealth. However, this concept of the good life comes with costs that prevent those without a strong will to stray from their values. On the journey to find the good life people often come across social and political barriers much like the civil rights supporters of the 20th century. Still more people struggle with making the sacrifices needed to sustain and ensure the longevity their good life, which is illustrated by Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. The costs may seem overwhelming at first but they are only temporary and the long lasting, internal benefits eventually become dominant.