Everyone strives to accomplish a goal, and for most people, that goal is prosperity. In Pearl S. Buck’s novel, The Good Earth, wealth is a common aspiration, though very few achieve it. The main character, Wang Lung, is initially depicted as being a hopeless candidate of being affluent. Eventually reaching his objective, he is faced with problems that he couldn’t have seen coming. Wang Lung’s conflicts before and even after he becomes wealthy can be associated with the problems that people face in the modern world, and maybe the ancient world. In the beginning of the novel, Wang Lung, a poor and traditional farmer, is distraught as a drought and famine rampage through the countryside in northern China. With no food, and a girdle empty
