Good Earth Olan

Good Earth Olan

Throughout The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, O-lan showed herself as a very humble woman. O-lan was a slave in the House of Hwang before her marriage was arranged by the Old Mistress of the House of Hwang. O-lan was faithful throughout the book to Wang Lung through harvest, famine, and even when Wang Lung brought home another woman. O-lan was a hard worker and worked even when no one told her to. She had wisdom that only a slave and a hardworking woman could acquire. Pearl S. Buck reveals many things that all show O-lan to be the humble woman she was.

O-lan's physical appearance showed her as a very modest woman. When Wang Lung sees her, he stares at O-lan seeing that, "plain though her face was and rough the skin upon her hands the flesh of her big body was soft and untouched . . . her body was beautiful, spare, and big boned yet rounded and soft" (26). From her physical qualities, it is clear that O-lan isn't a spoiled woman who sits around all day, but a hard worker. She is described as an ugly, flat-footed, stolid-faced woman. Many times, Wang Lung secretly wishes that O-lan didn't have such big feet. During the time of this book, women's feet were bound so they would be smaller. O-lan had big feet because they were never bound. This was another aspect of Chinese life that seemed designed to make women suffer was the practice of altering the feet of girls so they could barely walk. The Chinese custom of foot binding was meant to please men esthetically and to enhance a man's status by showing he was wealthy enough for his wife or concubine not to work.

O-lan said many significant things that showed her to be the modest woman she was. She was a very quiet woman. Though she spoke very few words, they meant so much. In the first part of the book, when the Ancient One asked O-lan if she was ready to head into the world with this stranger, answering in her "not loud, not soft, plain, and not ill-tempered" voice, she says, "ready" (17). Many times, O-lan is fearful of speaking. When it is the first time taking hot water to the old man, she tells Wang Lung fearfully, "'I took no tea to the Old One-I did as you said-but to you I . . .'" (27). O-lan listens well to Wang Lung, but fears that she is not doing her jobs correctly. O-lan's timidity when she first gets married is only natural for her situation. At the b...

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...d" (36).

Other characters in the novel said things about O-lan that showed her to be the modest woman she was. When Wang Lung was talking to his father, he said a lot shouldn't be expected of O-lan's appearance. He said, "We are farmers. Moreover, who has heard of a pretty slave who was a virgin in a wealthy house? All the young lords have had their fill of her." (18)

O-lan was obviously a very bold and important woman in this novel yet never knew it. She would do what she was raised to do and try her best to make her husband happy. Through all her marriage, she helped Wang Lung to be one of the wealthiest men in his city. While O-lan endured many difficulties, she continued with her duties as wife through thick and thin. Whether it was her begging on the streets for food and money, or putting up with Lotus, her husband's concubine, O-lan remained a strong woman with good qualities until the day she died. While she usually had little to say, O-lan's impact on the Lung family is one that wont be forgotton. She accomplished all of her goals in life and fulfilled her marital duty in making Wang Lung very happy. Even after all this, O-lan still was a very modest woman.