Pearls
One symbol in the story are the pearls O-lan keeps between her breasts, portraying she and Wang Lung's relationship. When Wang Lung first discovers the jewels O-Lan had pilaged from the rich man's home, Wang Lung demands that she give them to him, but she requests to keep two small pearls, and that was when, "Wang Lung, without comprehending it, looked for an instant into the heart of this dull and faithful creature, who had labored all her life at some task at which she won no reward..." (CH 16). From this, it can be seen that Wang Lung feels empathy for his wife. This is crucial because it shows that their relationship does include mutual respect, love, and the devotion that O-Lan gives to her husband dutifully. It is as if the pearls …show more content…
This can be portrayed in Wang Lung's thoughts about O-Lan: "It seemed to him that she was altogether hideous, but the most hideous of all were her big feet in their loose cotton cloth shoes, and he looked at them with anger so that she thrust them yet farther under the bench." (CH 18). This quote explains that Wang Lung is angered at O-Lan because she isn't as pretty as he desires her to be, and out of all her features, he believes her unbound feet to be the ugliest. This portrays the thematic value that a woman's place in society is to only please men since O-Lan has always tried her best to play the role of a good, obedient wife, but one thing she cannot please Wang Lung is in the form of physical beauty, such to the fact she is so ashamed of her feet she attempts to hide it. The ethical issue of bounded feet appears again when Wang Lung's daughter says,"...mother said I was not to weep aloud because you are too kind and weak for pain and you might say to leave me as I am, and then my husband would not love me even as you do not love her." (Ch 25). Wang Lung's daughter means that she must suffer with excruciating pain or else she would have to deal with the consequences of being in the same position of her mother, where her spouse does not give affection. Again, O-Lan knows about how strongly beauty plays a factor in pleasing men,
One symbol in the story are the pearls O-lan keeps between her breasts, portraying she and Wang Lung's relationship. When Wang Lung first discovers the jewels O-Lan had pilaged from the rich man's home, Wang Lung demands that she give them to him, but she requests to keep two small pearls, and that was when, "Wang Lung, without comprehending it, looked for an instant into the heart of this dull and faithful creature, who had labored all her life at some task at which she won no reward..." (CH 16). From this, it can be seen that Wang Lung feels empathy for his wife. This is crucial because it shows that their relationship does include mutual respect, love, and the devotion that O-Lan gives to her husband dutifully. It is as if the pearls …show more content…
This can be portrayed in Wang Lung's thoughts about O-Lan: "It seemed to him that she was altogether hideous, but the most hideous of all were her big feet in their loose cotton cloth shoes, and he looked at them with anger so that she thrust them yet farther under the bench." (CH 18). This quote explains that Wang Lung is angered at O-Lan because she isn't as pretty as he desires her to be, and out of all her features, he believes her unbound feet to be the ugliest. This portrays the thematic value that a woman's place in society is to only please men since O-Lan has always tried her best to play the role of a good, obedient wife, but one thing she cannot please Wang Lung is in the form of physical beauty, such to the fact she is so ashamed of her feet she attempts to hide it. The ethical issue of bounded feet appears again when Wang Lung's daughter says,"...mother said I was not to weep aloud because you are too kind and weak for pain and you might say to leave me as I am, and then my husband would not love me even as you do not love her." (Ch 25). Wang Lung's daughter means that she must suffer with excruciating pain or else she would have to deal with the consequences of being in the same position of her mother, where her spouse does not give affection. Again, O-Lan knows about how strongly beauty plays a factor in pleasing men,