Wang Lung and his family had to move to the south due to a drought …show more content…
The drought caused Wang Lung and the villager’s fields to become dry and unable to grow crops, “The fields, although Wang Lung cultivated them desperately, dried and cracked, and the young wheat stalks, which had sprung up courageously with the coming of spring and had prepared their heads for the grain, when they found nothing coming from the soil or the sky for them, ceased their growing and stood motionless at first under the sun and at last dwindled and yellowed into a barren harvest” (Pearl S. Buck pg. 70). Wang Lung and his family were running out of money because Wang Lung spent it on buying land from the House of Hwang and he also lend most of his money to his uncle. With almost no money, it led Wang Lung and his family into starvation. Due to starvation, they decided to kill Wang Lung’s ox for food. Wang Lung could not kill his ox friend, so O- Lan killed the ox instead. Their problem got worse when Wang Lung’s uncle told the villagers that Wang Lung gave him a little food, which made the villagers think that Wang Lung was hiding food from them.The villagers went to Wang Lung’s hut to steal his food and furniture, but they realized that Wang Lung and his family was …show more content…
After arriving to the south, Wang Lung and his family were not used to the life in the south, except for O- Lan. Wang Lung’s wife was in a poor family, so she knew how to beg for money and knew how to make huts with mats and bricks. She also taught her family how to beg for money from the people in the south, “Each of you take your bowls and hold them thus and cry out thus -” And she took her empty bowl in her hand and held it out and called piteously, “A heart, good sir- a heart, good lady! Have a kind heart- a good deed for your life in heaven! The small cash- the copper coins you throw away- feed a starving child!” (Buck pg. 107). They learned to beg from the foreigners who did not know the correct amount of money to give to the poor, which allowed them to receive more money. Wang Lung was able to find a job in the south, which requires him to pull on a rickshaw, “As for Wang Lung, he went into the streets and asked hither and thither until he found a place where jinrickshas were for hire and he went in and hired one for the day for the price of half a round of silver to be paid at night and then dragged the thing after him out to the street again” (Buck pg. 108). Even though, Wang Lung had a job and his family are begging everyday, they still can’t earn enough money to return to the north because they have to use the money for their daily food. A revolution began in the south and many