The Good Earth Essay, Research Paper
Have you ever wondered “who is the farmer they call Wang Lung?” Wang Lung is a poor farmer who begins with one piece of land that he farms each day. As he grow as a character in the novel he goes from poor to rich. In the novel The Good Earth the main character Wang Lung shows several qualities that helps him grow as a character. These qualities are a lustful, dedicated, and controlling man.
Wang Lung is a lustful man who goes to the teahouse every day to every day to see Lotus. He shows how lustful he is by buying Lotus so he can be with her every night. He cuts off his braid and gives Lotus whatever delicacies she wants. Wang Lung builds Lotus her own court and only he and her slaves are allowed to go in there. He promises his son the slave Pear Blossom; but instead he makes her his lover. Sometimes Wang Lung lets his lust get in the way of his judgement.
Wang Lung never sells his land, which is a way that shows he’s dedicated. He buys several pieces of land and no matter how rich he is or how many people ask to buy it, he won’t sell . He goes out early in the morning to farm his land and comes back late in the evening. Wang Lung is dedicated to his Poor Fool. He makes sure that every day she is fed, and When night comes he makes sure she is brought inside. The only time he is ever dedicated to O-lan is when she is about to die. He carries out all her final wishes. For Lotus he does everything she wants when she wants it done.
Wang Lung shows he is controlling by trying to make his youngest son work on the land. He also bans his eldest son from going to see the old prostitute that lives in the House of Hwang after it falls. When the family travels south and become hungry and his sons steal the meat, he forbids them to eat it. Also the pearl’s O-lan gets from the city in the south he takes them away from her and she was unable to say anything.
Wang Lung’s many attributes are what makes him the man he is in the novel theses are his lustful, dedicated, and controlling ways. Wang Lung has grown from a poor farmer to a rich man, he no longer has to go out and farm the land every day he has workers to do it for him. Are these qualities of what you would call a farmer or a rich man?