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Ching

In charge of Wang Lung’s fields

O-lan’s dying wish

Her son should come home and marry a good maid

Wedding contrast

New wedding lavish; Wang Lung’s was simple

“Half my life is buried there.”

Wang Lung feels life changed after O-lan’s death

Wang Lung vs Ching on gods

Wang Lung doubts; Ching fears and respects the gods

Magistrate’s fate

Embezzled flood funds, then drowned himself

Village famine

Fields flooded; people starving around Wang Lung

Plan for uncle and aunt

Supply them opium to keep them quiet

Selling daughters

Families sell girls to Wang Lung out of need

Lotus’s demand

Insists on the 7-year-old maid Pear Blossom

Family move

They buy and move into the Great House of Hwang

Grandson’s birth

Less meaningful than Wang Lung’s first son’s birth

Death of Ching

Accident while demonstrating a tool

Wang Lung visits land alone

He feels sadness and emptiness without Ching

Eldest son’s spending

Wang Lung yields to his son’s expensive tastes

Raised rents

Wang Lung’s sons increase tenants’ rents

Second son’s attitude

Practical and careful about money

Youngest son’s goal

Wants to be a soldier

Wang Lung’s view of grandson

Loves him yet sees he’s spoiled

Grandchildren count (early)

Eight grandchildren

Uncle and aunt status

Uncle dead; aunt near death

Wang Lung on war

Sees war as chaotic and dangerous

Cousin’s behavior

Flirts with sons’ wives and with Lotus

Cousin’s target

Pear Blossom

Pear Blossom’s reaction

She is disgusted and afraid

Pear Blossom spared

Wang Lung claims she has a contagious disease

Cousin’s baby

Female child with a slave

Aunt’s death

She dies

Wang Lung’s age

Sixty-five

Sons’ wives

They quarrel and teach their children to hate

Youngest son’s decision

Leaves home to join the army

Youngest son’s desire

Desires Pear Blossom (as does Wang Lung)

Wang Lung & Pear Blossom

Kind, respectful, mutual affection

Pear Blossom on young men

Hates them; says they are fierce

Youngest son’s reaction

Tries to intimidate Wang Lung and Pear Blossom

Wang Lung’s request to Pear Blossom

Mix poison in Poor Fool’s rice after his death

Pear Blossom’s answer

Refuses; will raise Poor Fool herself

Pear Blossom’s past

Hates men due to abuse in slavery

Grandchildren count (later)

Nineteen grandchildren

Eldest son’s tea shops

Visits to find women like Wang Lung once did

Connection to land

Wang Lung sleeps again in his old house/fields

Burial wish

Be buried with O-lan, his father, and Ching

Coffin request

Wants to see his coffin before he dies

Where to live out days

Wants to return to the old house

Sons discuss selling land

Wang Lung calls them evil; nearly faints

Final inference

Sons plan to sell the land after his death