The Golden Soil of the Good Earth...

Bibliography

goodearth0910 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:07:49 +0000

Bibliography:

Augusten, “Foreign Martyrs and True Friends of China.” Chinadaily BBS. 23 Aug 2009. .
Frenz, Horst. “Pearl Buck: The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938.” Elsevier Publishing Company 1938 Web. 23 Aug 2009. .
“The Good Earth (House of Earth, book 1).” Fantastic Fiction. 2009. 23 Aug 2009. .

Critical View of THE GOOD EARTH (Critical Analysis)

goodearth0910 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:50:22 +0000

One of Pearl S. Bucks’ most renowned novels, The Good Earth succeeds exploring the power of money and the nature of humans as well as portray Chinese culture of time during 1930s. The entire novel is written in an old-styled syntax with simple structure and diction. Especially the dialect of the characters captures the time period’s uneducated people who would have spoken awkwardly and choppily. For example, Wang’s father yells out “Harlot! Harlot!” when his son brings Lotus into the house, when he could have had a civil talk with Wang. Furthermore, the modern world will probably use whore or prostitute to indicate the mistress of men.

The entire book depicts the desirable nature of humans when associated with money through the protagonist, Wang Lung. It is intriguing to see the effect of money on Wang- how such a nice man turns into an arrogant, lazy, wasteful young lord. Especially in the climax of the novel when Wang loses his mind over a whore like Lotus, the readers learn form the book the major flaw of humans to resist lust when having money to satisfy his needs

My thoughts on THE GOOD EARTH (Personal Reflection)

goodearth0910 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:47:42 +0000

I enjoyed the book very much, more because I didn’t have a high expectation. Usually novels set in the old- historical period like The Good Earth can be extremely tedious with a surplus of descriptions, but no interesting plot line. However, Buck did a great job hitting the sweet-spot of balance between the descriptions of the Chinese background and the life-story of Wang Lung. I was fascinated by some of the traditional practices in the novel, such as the marriage ritual with eating of rice and drinking of wine as a symbol to indicate that husband and wife were bound together forever. Furthermore, there were various occurrences to the characters that added excitement to the book; there was at least one new event per three chapters. It was interesting to see how the characters adapted to different changes each time. During the period of destitute, Wang gets a new job as a rear- cart puller while his children and wife beg for money. When his uncle troubles him, Wang decides to drug his uncle with opium and shut the man’s mouth full of demands. I, thus, highly recommend The Good Earth for it is both entertaining and educational.

Life of a Farmer, Wang Lung…(Synopsis)

goodearth0910 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:18:34 +0000

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck chronicles the life of a farmer named Wang Lung, who goes through some significant changes over the course of his life. Wang starts as a poor farmer who barely has enough silver to afford his regular meals. He still is a decent follower of Confucianism, who knows to respect others. Unfortunately, a long drought hits Wang’s town that forces his family to go through hardships like begging for money in the streets of the South. Despite his experience through a period of drought, Wang transforms into a wasteful, arrogant lord once he becomes successful in the fields; Wang not only enjoys harlots, but also looks down on Ching, his close friend and one of his most diligent workers. Wang is unable to completely go back to his old self until his death. Furthermore, Wang’s sons, who do not know the value of Earth, sell Wang’s lands. Therefore, Wang loses everything- his life, land, and characteristic- by the end of the novel.

“The Good Earth (House of Earth, book 1).” Fantastic Fiction. 2009. 23 Aug 2009. >.

Biography of Pearl S. Buck

goodearth0910 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:14:40 +0000

Pearl S. Buck (a.k.a. Sai Zhen Z) was born in West Virginia on June 26^th, 1892. Her parents were Southern Presbyterian missionaries that traveled and lived in China. Buck’s parents moved back to the U.S. for Buck’s birth after losing three children in China due to illnesses like cholera, but returned when Buck was three months old. As a result, Buck was raised in China and received education from a Confucian scholar, which affected her works of literature.

Buck began to write in the 1920s after receiving a M.D. at Cornell University in 1962. Starting with East Wind, West Wind in 1930, she began a prolific career publishing The Good Earth (1931), Sons (1932), and A House Divided (1935)- a trilogy on the life of the family of Wang. The Good Earth especially gained much attention, being listed as a best seller as well as winning some awards such as the Pulitzer Prize. After establishing her career as a writer, Buck published more novels like Letter from Peking (1957), as well as some short stories like Once upon a Christmas (1972).

Augusten, “Foreign Martyrs and True Friends of China.” Chinadaily BBS. 23 Aug 2009. <http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?gid=2&tid=571977&page=4>.
Frenz, Horst. “Pearl Buck: The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938.” Elsevier Publishing Company 1938 Web. 23 Aug 2009. .