the good earth

from anna's quizlet :)

1st birth

The first birth is very important because not only does he now have a son but good fortune; Excitement; Wang Lung is patiently waiting for the birth; Time seems to be expanded

2nd birth

Wang Lung is annoyed O-lan 'chose' to give birth during the harvest; Since the baby was a boy, his work didn't feel as difficult and tiring because he was happy; He was more concerned about the gender of the baby than his wife and whether she would be able to harvest with him; It was a boy; still having good fortune; They talk like they would any conversation; they also did not make a big deal of it - she walked into the house, gave birth, then came out and continued farming.

3rd birth

the first daughter; "Wang Lung stood still. A sense of evil struck him. A girl! A girl was causing him all this trouble with his uncle's house. Now a girl had been born in his house as well." (page 67); Wang Lung grows angry after the baby is a girl and he doesn't even go to see the baby; "it is over once more. It is only a slave this time- not worth mentioning"-This indicates the little value the consider women and girls

4th birth

second daughter(dead); The child was strangled by O-Lan; They are worried about another mouth to feed; Desperate for the birth to be over, and that the child would not be alive; At this point things are so dire that he doesn't even care about the gender of the baby

5 birth

city life

Wang Lung really missed the land and wanted to return back to it; He doesn't have the money to return back though; The other poor people were envious of the rich men and all that they had; The weather in the South was ideal for the land and better than the lack of rain that there was at his home in the North.

What does his land mean to him during the famine?

he felt proud to have his land when he was in the city, because he had more than the other poor people on the street; how the children are considered good or bad fortune; Each child changes the land. (boys=abundance) and (girls=famine) each time the child is born the land changes; "it was true that all their lives depended upon the earth." (ch. 8 pg. 68); the land is connected to his children; Famine: girl born, famine in the land

How does Wang Lung feel towards his children during these passages? What does he think about his son being like a young lord instead of a farmer?

eldest son - pride(- annoyed but proud); oldest girl- O-lan binds feet so she can get good husband; Middle son: Scholar like older son (-Crafty)
(-Not seen in limelight until Elder son leaves); Youngest son: Forgotten

*Wang Lung often changes his mind on how he feels about his children

*takes out emotions on kids (when land/life is good vs when its not)

Wang Lung

The protagonist of The Good Earth. He begins life as a poor farmer and marries O-lan, a slave owned by the Hwang family. Wang Lung maintains a fierce attachment to the land. However, he is also extremely ambitious and envies the material success of the wealthy Hwangs. He is increasingly drawn to the Hwangs' decadent lifestyle, and in the end, his piety and love of the land is only partially successful in helping him maintain his good character and moral standing.

Ching

Wang Lung's neighbor in the village and, later, Wang Lung's capable, faithful, valued servant.

Liu

A grain merchant in town and a relative of Wang Lung's by marriage.

Old Mistress Hwang

The opium-addicted matriarch of the great Hwang family.

Old Master Hwang

The patriarch of the great Hwang family when Wang Lung is a poor farmer. He spends money extravagantly and drains his coffers by taking a succession of concubines.

O-lan

A woman sold to the wealthy Hwang family as a slave when she was ten years old. After she marries Wang Lung, she achieves a respectable position as the mother of three sons. She is a strong, hardworking, resourceful woman and a devoted wife. Still, she is continually marginalized by Wang Lung, and she is eventually replaced in his affections.

Old Master Hwang
The patriarch of the great Hwang family when Wang Lung is a poor farmer. He spends money extravagantly and drains his coffers by taking a succession of concubines.

guardman

pear blossom

A slave purchased by Wang Lung during the famine years, when she was seven years old. She serves as Lotus's personal servant for years; his a mistress to wang lung

Lotus

A beautiful, delicate prostitute with bound feet. Lotus becomes Wang Lung's concubine. She has a terrible temper.

Eldest Son

Scholar; rejects father's traditional values; Extravagant, arrogant, and obsessed with appearances, Wang Lung's first son grows up spoiled and rejects the values that made his father rich.

The wife of Wang Lung's first son

The daughter of a local grain merchant, Liu. She grew up in a wealthy family, so she urges her husband to spend money on luxury items; she is spoiled and reckless. Like many women from wealthy families, she has bound feet.

second son

Crafty, enterprising, and miserly, more responsible than the first son, but he also rejects his father's traditional values as outmoded.

the wife of wang lungs second son

The daughter of a modest landowning village family. She becomes enemies with the wife of Wang Lung's first son.

poor fool

Wang Lung has a soft spot for her, Wang's first daughter

third son

The twin of Wang Lung's second daughter. He dreams of glory and becomes a soldier against his father's wishes.

Wang Lung's youngest daughter

The twin of Wang Lung's third son. After Wang Lung begins to criticize O-lan's appearance cruelly, especially her big feet, O-lan decides to bind the little girl's feet. Wang Lung promises her in marriage to Liu's son.

wang lung's father

A mentally unstable man who needs constant care; traditional

wang lung's uncle

Wang Lung's uncle is the younger brother of Wang Lung's father. Because the uncle is a member of the older generation, Wang Lung must show him respect and give him support in difficult times, despite his despicable nature. thief, part of the red beards, is "protecting" wang lung and his house

wang lung's uncle wife

A village gossip. Like her husband and son, she is lazy and manipulative

wang lung's uncle son

A wasteful, disrespectful scoundrel, and a sexual predator.

Cuckoo

A slave who worked in the House of Hwang at the same time as O-lan. Cuckoo was beautiful in her youth, so the Old Master took her as his concubine while O-lan worked as a kitchen slave. Arrogant and bad-tempered, she insulted and berated O-lan constantly.

Plot

The Good Earth follows the life of Wang Lung from his beginnings as an impoverished peasant to his eventual position as a prosperous landowner.

setting

China in the 1920s

who said this quote and to who: "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."

chapter 2: the narrator said it; describes Wang Lung's and O-lan's connection to the land.

who said this quote and to who: "her body was beautiful, spare and bug boned yet rounded and soft"

Wang lung said this to himself about his new wife, a day after he married her

who said this quote and to who: "But Wang Lung thought of his land and pondered this way and that, with the sickened heart of deferred hope, how he could get back to it. He belonged, not to this scum which clung to the walls of a rich man's house; nor did he belong to the rich man's house. He belonged to the land and he could not live with any fullness until he felt the land under his feet and followed a plow in the springtime and bore a scythe in his hand at harvest."

chapter 14; the narrator said it, depicts when Wang Lung, now in the city, looks back on his land with longing. His connection to the simple life of the earth has been affirmed by his time in the poverty-stricken urban chaos of the city. shows Wang Lung thinking in terms of economic comparisons.

who said this quote and to who: "Hunger makes thief of any man."

Chapter 15; is spoken by one of the villagers who knows of the looting of Wang Lung's house.

who said this quote and to who: "Then slowly she thrust her wet wrinkled hand into her bosom and she drew forth the small package and she gave it to him and watched him as he unwrapped it; and the pearls lay in his hand and they caught softly and fully the light of the sun, and he laughed. But O-lan returned to the beating of his clothes and when tears dropped slowly and heavily from her eyes she did not put up her hand to wipe them away; only she beat the more steadily with her wooden stick upon the clothes spread over the stone."

chapter 19; the narrator said this about the interaction from wang lung and o-lan,Wang Lung demands that O-lan give him the pearls that she had stolen from the rich man's house, which he allowed her to save

what do the pearls symbolize?

were an important symbol of Wang Lung's respect and consideration for his wife; now, however, he is in love with the young prostitute Lotus, and he wants to give the pearls to her as a gift. Completely disregarding O-lan's feelings

who said this quote and to who: "Now, evil, idle sons—sell the land! . . . It is the end of a family—when they begin to sell the land . . . Out of the land we came and into it we must go—and if you will hold your land you can live—no one can rob you of land. . . . If you sell the land, it is the end."

chapter 34; wang lung said this to his sons at the end of the book; begging them not to sell the land; Wang Lung's speech is a final plea to honor man's relationship with the land.

What motif does Buck use to connect the rise and fall of human fortune with the yearly harvests?

the cycle of nature

What practice symbolizes wealth as both a source of moral depravity and an object of individual aspiration?

foot binding

What does the bawdy gate man demand from Wang Lung before letting him pass into the House of Hwang?

a silver piece

Before the couple departs, what does the Old Mistress ask O-lan to show her later?

her first child

How does Wang Lung honor both his new wife and the earth god?

burn incest

What additional good fortune do Wang Lung and O-lan experience after the birth of their first child?

good harvest

What does Wang Lung decide to buy from the House of Hwang after hearing about the family's misfortune?

some land

What event(s) cause Wang Lung to worry that his good luck is over?

quarrel with his uncle and the plague of lotuses

On the train going south, what do some men try to teach Wang Lung how to do?

beg

What job does Wang Lung find in the south?

ricksaw driver

what does footbinding symbolize?

small feet were considered an attractive female trait.

what does house of wang symbolize?

wealth, extravagance, decadence, and downfall throughout the novel, a constant reminder of wealth's corrosive effect on morality and long-term success. As the site of the Old Mistress's opium addiction

what does the land symbolize?

it symbolizes life in all its forms

what does opium symbolize?

represents the destruction of the wealthy by their own excessive wealth

The Land

-Beginning - he owns one field. He considers the -Hwangs great because they have a lot of land
-The Children: When he is gaining land he has boys. When there is a famine he has girls

What do you think of Wang Lung? What kind of person is he? What is important to him? WHat strong emotions does he feel & how does he deal with his emotions?

-Very human. Tempted a lot.
-Says he would only use O-Lan for work as a wife.

What important topics have come up in these first few chapters? What repeated images or themes or phrases that we should discuss?

-Portrayal of O-Lan
-Shame that he is worried about O-Lan and her thoughts. Possibly has a crush on her.

How is the social structure portrayed? Between city and country? Men and women? Different professions?

Women are considered lower than men. They do the house work and walk behind the men

How did the author create a sense of suspense and importance for Wang Lung's wedding day? (What literary devices and elements did the author use?) Have you ever had an important day full of anticipation of preparation? What was it like?

What is the relationship like between Wang Lung and O-lan? Find textual evidence that gives you clues.

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: Abundance

O-lan and two sons

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: Famine

girl born, famine in the land

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: City living

working as rickshaw driver but different than the other poor people in the city

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: Back to the land

rich enough not to work the land anymore

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: Lotus

Lotus: lovesick and idle

What does his land mean to him at the following stages of his family's life: Troubles with family

uncle and son

*In this culture men possessed women
-Like they are their property
-We see it now, in the ways of a loving possession
--When married we are each others property (not in a material way)

How is the universe in this book different from the universe of The Alchemist? What is Wang Lung's Personal Legend? Do these kinds of tragedies and natural disasters undermine the message of The Alchemist? How do you think the author of The Alchemist might respond to this book?

-This book is things happen, but in the alchemist is to go and find it
-In this book you have to find it, but in the alchemist you know you have it and you have to out it to the test/ use it

What does the land mean during the famine?

-Cursed
-The land is a treasure beyond treasure
-Its a kind of wealth that can't be take

What is the sense of land that it served

Power and prosperity

When he was in the city he didn't want to be like the rich people but now he is, what made him change?

-Not having work is what lead to this freedom
-He is sensitive about his honor, everyone making fun of him

What woke up his heart was his love for his children

He wouldn't let Lotus curse them

what are the two times he is willing to give up his land?

for lotus and o-lan

who said: "Tea is like eating silver"

old man (p.5) to wang lung

who said: "Wang Lung perceived that he had fallen into the hands of a joker."

narrator about wang lung when he went to the barber shop

who said: "Only men of leisure have the need for beautiful women to divert them."

Mistress (p.17) said to wang lung

who said: "She threw a piece of brick out of furrow"

narrator said this about O-lan when she told wang lung she was pregnant

who said: "His heart rushed out to these two"

wang lung about his son and wife

who said: "His own exhausted body made him cruel"

wang lung said to himself after a long day of labor

who said: "The house was full of good fortune- this woman brought him nothing but good fortune."

wang lung thought to himslef about his wife and his children

who said: "His destiny is evil and through no fault of his own. Heaven wills it."

uncles' wife talking to Wang Lung about his uncle (p.60)

who said: "It seemed as though once the gods turn against a man they will not consider him again." (p.67)

narrator about the drought

who said: "He suddenly hated them with immense hatred" (p.85)

wang lung said to himself about the men his uncle brought to try and buy his land off of him

who said: "Here in the city there was food everywhere" (p.109)

the narrator

who said: "There was nothing which the appetite of man might desire that was not to be found upon the streets of the markets of that city." (p.109)

the narrator

who said: "Beggar we may be but thieves we are not"

wang lung to his son

who said: "Business means money"

cuckoo when she was still working for the house of Hwang

who said: "He will do anything I tell him."

cuckoo refering to the old lord

who said: "It is a true that this is a shame to me that I cannot read and write" (p.162)

wang lung said to himself about his son

who said: "His own hands were empty and he did not know what to do with himself." (p.166)

the narrator about wang lung

who said: "But a man cannot be satisfied with the foolishness of little children." (p.167)

wang lung said to himself after looking at his youngest children

who said: "Since those last two were born together I have not been well. There is a fire in my vitals."

O-lan (p.168)

who said:"It seemed to him that she was all together hideous, but the most hideous of all were her big feet." (p.169)

wang lung about o-lan

who said: "I heard you were rich but I did not know you were as rich as this"

his uncle said to him

who said: "When a man's house is full of wild dogs he must seek peace elsewhere."

Wang Lung (p.189)

who said: "He thought again how there was no beauty in her and how for many years had he not desired her."

wang lung thinking about O-lan (p.239)

who said: "He was fat and well fed" (p.248)

narrator said about Liu

who said: I have never had any good from that old man in heaven yet...he is the same in evil." (p.271)

wang lung said to ching about his father brining bad luck on the harvest after his death

who said: "You (his uncle) stand next to the head of the Redbeards."

his uncle's wife said to his uncle