# Quotes/Responses Page #
1 “There was a woman coming to the house. Never again would Wang Lung have to rise…at dawn to light the fire. He could lie in his bed and wait. 2
This quote shows the reader the kind of role the woman was supposed to have in her family. She was to do all of the housework, cooking… Basically she takes care of the man’s every need.
2 “‘Come here, slave,’ said the old lady carelessly. ‘This man has come for you.’” 13
Female children were often sold as slaves to rich families. This wasn’t done with male children, which shows that the male children were held in much higher regards, and that they were worth more to a family.
3 “‘Is it a man?’ he cried importunely.” 27
Male children were wanted more than females because they could own land and grow crops, something that the government prohibited females to do.
4 “‘It is over once more. It is only a slave this time-not worth mentioning.’ Wang lung stood still. A sense of evil struck him. A girl!” 46
Wang Lung wasn’t any exception to the rule with girl children. He just wanted to have male children because girls just caused a whole lot of trouble in his eyes.
5 “I would sell this girl for you-to take you back to the land.’” 83
O’lan was willing to sell her daughter so that her family could go back to their home and their land. Wang Lung did not think that it was right to do so. O’lan thought that it was ok because she was sold into slavery when her parents needed money
6 “‘My mother did not bind them, since I was sold so young. But the girls' feet I will bind-the younger girl's feet I will bind.’” 122
The women were expected to have their feet bound to make them smaller and more beautiful. The women were expected to go through a lot of pain to be presentable to their husband.
7 “‘He chose one most beautiful, a small, slender thing, a body light as a bamboo and a little face as pointed as a kitten's face, and one hand clasping the stem of a lotus flower in bud, and the hand as delicate as the tendril of a fern uncurled.’” 126
This quote refers to Wang Lung when he went to pay for his pleasures with a beautiful woman. This kind of thing was ok for a man to do. He could have as many women as he wanted, but a woman could not do the same.
Women were auctioned off as “merchandise” to the best suitor they could get in town. Beauty, though important, was not as important as the dowry the woman possessed, because it was the dowry the family provided that could exalt a man’s societal status to all new heights. Once married, women were expected to have son’s for their husbands in order to take over the family business. A barren woman was not an option and could have easily been rushed to the nearest convent to take her vows of a nun, for no honor could be brought otherwise. No woman could run from the societal and legal pressures placed upon them. Rather than run, some chose to accept their place, but, like Lusanna, some chose to fight the status quo for rights they believed they
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
The beginning of the book starts out with Liang’s typical life, which seems normal, he has a family which consist of three children, two older sisters and him the youngest, his two sister’s reside in Changsha 1 his father has an everyday occupation working as a journalist at a local newspaper. Things start to take a turn early in life for Liang Heng, his families politics were always questioned, the mistake mad...
.... In the end, O-lan’s anger helped her stand up to Wang Lung. She grew more bold. In the end, when she died, Wang Lung wished that he had treated her better because he truly missed her presence.
Ultimately, The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is a timeless, educational, historical novel. Spence purpose to enlighten the reader of the Chinese culture, tradition and its land were met through the use of sources, like the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang will captivate any reader's attention.
...Also an important quote is when she says, "But today I realize I've never really known what it means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old" (857). Even though she was in her 30's and still had that identity crisis, it was uplifting knowing that all it took for her to resolve that conflict was one meeting with her sisters.
Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
Trimble (2010), asserts that when working with Native Amercian populations, counselors need to embrace the differences, make sure appointments are sheduled for flexibility in the counseling sessions, be open to allow the extended family in the in the counseling sessions, be mindful that it takes time to build trust with this population and allow extra sessions and do not force the trusting process before getting to the root issues, if the client wants to be silent be respectful as this could be a part of their process, respect their culture, and confidentality is important to them so have a high respect for this part.
Wang Lung needs a wife so saves up the little money he has and buys a woman who is a slave named O-lan. O-lan is sold to Wang Lung so she can take care of the home, cooking and bear children. Wang Lung is disappointed when he first sees O-lan because she does not have bound feet which was a desirable quality at that time but he does enjoy when O-lan has the food ready when he comes in a night from the land. Wang Lung is very proud when O-lan makes cakes that no one else in the village knows how to makes and when his family comes to feast for the new year at their house.
When women are married in the eighteenth century, their world revolves around no one else but their husband. Submissive wives were considered as a sign of good wives during the bygone era. Georgiana is a perfect example of a submissive wife of her time. She was both mentally ...
The most important thing in Wang Lung’s life is his land. To him, the land is everything; his work, his food, his standing in society, his sustenance. It is, essentially, his life force. His understanding is that as long as he has land, he has enough, and to live without it would seem impossible.
Some limitations of this study include the small sample size (n=31). This study also focuses specifically on one culture, so the findings may not be able to be applied to other cultures. This study does however provide information about American Indian culture that may not have been available otherwise.
Have you ever wondered why there are 7 billion living on earth today? According to Webster’s Dictionary, population is the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, etc. (Merriam-Webster). There are a lot of people in the world and the earth doesn’t seem big enough to sustain the growing population of the earth. Having this many people on earth is too much so something must be done about it because it can cause a lot of problems in many countries especially in less developed countries. There are many ways of making the world a better place and overpopulating is not one of them. Even with the knowledge of its history, causes and effects, it is still a topic that is a major concern today.
Men were the ones in the family who worked and provided for his family's wellbeing. Because of the family's economic dependence on the husband, he had control over all of his family members. This showed the amount of progress needing to come in the future to allow women to start receiving some of the many rights they deserved which men had and so frequently took for granted.
Separated from such terrible accounts, we take in from both these books that the apparition trains convey the dead forms likewise convey sacks of ladies' breasts. The removal of bosoms of ladies is a standout amongst the most abhorrent wounds confronted by the ladies. Numerous ladies passed on attempting to keep away from sexual violation, protect their chastity, and ensure their rel...