The Good Earth book response

The Good Earth is a novel about a poor young farmer in the rural, turn-of-the-century China. When Wang Lung reaches the age to marry, his father reaches out to the powerful Hwang family to ask if they have a slave that they are willing to let Wang marry, and they did, 20-year-old O-lan. O-lan and Wang Lung are pleased with each other but exchange little words between each other. The two of them have a bountiful and profitable harvest from their land. O-lan eventually become pregnant and Wang is ecstatic that his first child is a boy. Mean while, the Hwang family falls to hard times; the husband is obsessed with women and the wife is an opium addict. With this, Wang buys a piece of fertile rice land and enjoys another profitable harvest and is granted another son. With Wang's new found wealth, he catches the attention of his greedy uncle. Since in these times, custom dictates that Wang must show the most respect to the older generation and especially family members, he is forced to loan his uncle money that he knows is going to be wasted on gambling and drinking. As the Hwang's finances falter further, Wang is able to purchase another piece of land from them. Soon after this, O-lan gives birth to a daughter and the land falls under a terrible famine. In the middle of this crisis, O-lan gives birth to another daughter, but strangles this daughter because there is not enough food for the entire family. When winter came, Wang moved his family to a southern city and there O-lan and the children beg while Wang makes money by transporting people in a rented rickshaw. They end up making just enough to eat, Wang falls into despair about not being able to return home to his land. Briefly, he and O-lan consider selling their eldest daughter as a slave, but eventually, a group of poor people ransack a rich mans home and Wang and O-lan join them. Wang steals a pile of gold coins, and O-lan steals a few jewels. With their new wealth, Wang Lung moves his family back home and rushes to buy 300 acres of Hwang's land, an ox, and some seeds. Wang only allows O-lan to keep two small pearls. Shortly after, O-lan gives birth to twins, and the couple realizes that their eldest daughter is severely retarted, but Wang loves her dearly. Later, Wang hires laborers to plant and harvest his land. He has several years of profitable harvests and becomes a rich man. A flood comes in and forces him to be idle and he becomes bored and restless. He soon become displeased with O-lan and criticized her telling her she had fat feet. He then became obsessed with Lotus, a beautiful prostitute with bound feet. He eventually purchases Lotus as his concubine. O-lan eventually becomes terminally ill, and Wang regrets his everything bad he said to her and beings to appreciate her for everything she did for him. When Wang's uncle and his family move into Wang's home to exploit his wealth, Wang tricks them into becoming opium addicts and eventually Wang moves his family into the Hwang's house that he rented, leaving his uncle in his home. After O-lan passes away, Wang's sons start to rebel against Wang and his plans for their life. They do not want to be farmers and often the two eldest sons argue over money. In Wang's older age, he takes a young slave named Pear Blossom, as a concubine and she promises to take care of his eldest daughter after he passes away. T the end of the novel, after Wang dies, his sons plan to sell and divide the money and finally leaving the life of their father.
I found this book in away beautiful and showing the true connection between people and the land. People now don't realize how much we depend on the land and in China that is the biggest thing. Your wealth and well being depend all on the land and your crops that year. Like when the famine came in, Wang Lung's family fell into poverty very quickly and it probably didn't help that his family was constantly growing. I was unsure how to feel when O-lan decided to strangle her second daughter, but I guess you have to do what you got to do, right? Overall, I did enjoy this book every much. Thank you Mr. Sheehy for recommending it to me.