Reader Response I
The opening chapter of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck begins with Wang Lung discussing with his father how he wants his home to look presentable before he sets out to purchase a wife. Reading the dialogue between Wang Lung and his father on how his wife should not be an attractive woman was compelling. Wang Lung’s father asks “And what will we do with a pretty woman? We must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children as she works in the fields, and will a pretty woman do these things? She will be forever thinking about clothes to go with her face!” Wang Lung’s father does not believe a beautiful woman can also be a hard worker. Moreover, he even goes so far as to say that a woman must clean the house and …show more content…
Buck is the most important turning moment leading to the climax. Before this point, Wang Lung had been forced to pull around a rickshaw to carry around other people in a city that was unfamiliar to him. The rest of his family, including his father, were street beggars. He wanted nothing more but to go back to his town and be back with his land, but because of the lack of food and money he and his family made, Wang Lung could not afford to go back. This is the point where a rich man’s home had been invaded. Wang Lung and his family first did not understand what was going on. When they realized that people had ransacked the rich man’s home, he joined the rest of the poverty-stricken men and women to the home. He did not steal from the man, however, he did use empty threats to get several gold coins from the rich man. With this money that Wang Lung had acquired, he was able to go back to his land with his family and buy plenty of supplies for his land which ultimately resulted in Wang Lung becoming the richest man of his town. Without the money the rich man was forced to give to Wang Lung, he would not have all the land, laborers, concubines, and slaves that he ended up having. He would not have two homes, the silk robes he made, nor the money to be able to send his sons to
The opening chapter of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck begins with Wang Lung discussing with his father how he wants his home to look presentable before he sets out to purchase a wife. Reading the dialogue between Wang Lung and his father on how his wife should not be an attractive woman was compelling. Wang Lung’s father asks “And what will we do with a pretty woman? We must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children as she works in the fields, and will a pretty woman do these things? She will be forever thinking about clothes to go with her face!” Wang Lung’s father does not believe a beautiful woman can also be a hard worker. Moreover, he even goes so far as to say that a woman must clean the house and …show more content…
Buck is the most important turning moment leading to the climax. Before this point, Wang Lung had been forced to pull around a rickshaw to carry around other people in a city that was unfamiliar to him. The rest of his family, including his father, were street beggars. He wanted nothing more but to go back to his town and be back with his land, but because of the lack of food and money he and his family made, Wang Lung could not afford to go back. This is the point where a rich man’s home had been invaded. Wang Lung and his family first did not understand what was going on. When they realized that people had ransacked the rich man’s home, he joined the rest of the poverty-stricken men and women to the home. He did not steal from the man, however, he did use empty threats to get several gold coins from the rich man. With this money that Wang Lung had acquired, he was able to go back to his land with his family and buy plenty of supplies for his land which ultimately resulted in Wang Lung becoming the richest man of his town. Without the money the rich man was forced to give to Wang Lung, he would not have all the land, laborers, concubines, and slaves that he ended up having. He would not have two homes, the silk robes he made, nor the money to be able to send his sons to