Why is a minute piece of land so incredibly spectacular to this petite man in China? In the book, The Good Earth, a man based his life upon a diminutive piece of this gigantic earth. Wang Lungs land showed his treasure; it meant the world to him. Wang Lung believed that the land was superior for him, but it actually caused a good deal of destruction to him.
To those at the great house it means nothing, this handful of earth, but to me it means how much (Buck 57)! Wang Lungs heart explodes with pride because of his purchase. He was pleased to purchase land from the place where he felt greatly looked down upon and where his wife, O-lan, had been bound to slavery throughout her childhood. The land brought Wang Lung a form of happiness and changed his life for a little time until the land started to dry up.
When there is nothing left in the town, the only thing left do is move to a place that provides more. Wang Lung and his family were extremely malnourished to the point of skin and bones. They did not have any food left because a drought had come over the land, and it did not produced food. They were slowing beginning to starve to death. Wang Lung hoped the earth would send rain, but unfortunately, the lack of rain sent him and his family towards the far south. Leaving the land devastated Wang Lung, and when he moved away from it, he felt a piece of his heart missing. If I had anything to sell I would sell it and go back to the land (Buck 124).
In the middle of his familys starvation, Wang Lung selfishly wanted back his land. When he thought of it, it brought him peace for a short time. He believed going back to the land would solve the familys problems. He was ignorant to the fact that he was in a better place (for the time), and he was not looking at reality.
Wang Lung changed his few good morals for the sake of his splendid land. He ran into a room while he was in the south, trying to escape death. Evil men were rioting against the rich and threatening to kill them for money. When he ran into the room, a wealthy man happened to mistake Wang Lung for an enemy and offered him tons of silver and gold. Wang Lung deceived the man and took all of his money. With the enormous amount of stolen money, he and his family were able to go back home.
We go back to the land- tomorrow we go back to the land (Buck 147)! Wang Lung and his family returned home to the land, but it was not as grand as he expected it to be. He arrived home with loads of money, but he still was bitter and longed for something more. He never could find what he was looking for and was angry with much of the silver he gave away. He didnt give it gratefully because he wanted it all for himself. He was beginning to become greedy and wrapped up in his riches.
Yet when he went into his house there was still no peace (Buck 306). The earth became more dreadful to Wang Lung as he aged. His uncle and uncles son became bitter and jealous of him because he was not sharing his wealth and land with him. He never became close to his children or brilliant wife because he was so wrapped up in keeping his land. He spent his whole life believing a false belief and even raised his own sons up to believe it. He stated that the only thing that would let them survive was the land. Out of the land we came and into we must go- if you will hold your land you can live.. If you sell the land it is the end (Buck 385).
Wang Lung was never content. He went to his land for his idea of reassurance and worth. Throughout the novel, he would have peace for a short time, but then something would go wrong. The land was something that could satisfy him for a short time, but then he went back to his own bitterness and selfish ways. It never brought him peace, but he could never realize it. Something that seemed so excellent to him, actually led to his own devastation.
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