FREE ESSAY ON THE GOOD EARTH

THE GOOD EARTH

The Good Earth
Pearl S. Buck / Historical Fiction
The Good Earth is a saga about the life and death of Wang Lung. The story starts out on
his wedding day as he gets ready to be marries. He is having a traditional farmer wedding
in which his father has chosen his wife which he is to have many children with. In the
later years in the midst of a famon they are forced to move south which was not much
better than the north. A revolution broke out and during it O-lan and Wang Lung Both
rummaged through the great housewhere O-lan stumbles upon a pouch of jewels. After being
let go by the soldiers they are able to back to the land where there is now rain. O-lan
being the loyal wife she gives Wang Lung the pouch of jewels except two pearls that she
keeps for herself. Later Wang Lung in his greed takes the pearls from her to give to his
conquebine. When the locusts come he reunites himself with the land in a struggle to save
it. O-lan dies quickly after his sons wedding and Wang Lung is next to come. Wang Lung on
his death bed in a house that is not even his requests that his sons never sell the land.
His sons agree to it with their fingers crossed behind their backs in high hopes to
become rick quick.
No matter who you are and how much you think you can controll it, money will corrupt most
people in this so called world.
The main character in this book is Wang Lung. In the beginning he is a common farmer who
works in the fields all day next to his ox. He has a braid and has no reason to clean him
self, his father who he supports is old and cannot help himself. When the money comes
rolling in he hires people to do the work in the fields for him, he now wears silken
robes and is clean every day. During this time he cuts off his braid and brings a
conquebine to the great house of Whang, which he bought. Most of the workers on his
fields think he is a fool, because he cannot see the things that are going on behind his
back.
In the book some spots were difficult to read because of the vocabulary, which made me go
back and reread those trouble parts. The length of the sentences didn't effect me but
when a word that I didn't know it made it harder to back track.
I would not read annother book by Pearl S. Buck because I think it draged on too long and
it didn't hold my intrest long enough to be really interesting. I experienced that her
books are boring and drag on for hundreds of pages. It had no meaning, except for the
torture I went through while I was reading it.