Women In The Good Earth

Women all over the world have different roles in society that make them who they are, and they all contribute differently to the environment. In The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck there are many descriptions of the way women play a role in society. The Good Earth is a novel about a Chinese farmer living in a rough patch of his life when all of a sudden his life turns around and look up for him and his family. He lives with his wife, O-lan, who birthed him three sons and two daughters, his concubines Lotus and Pear Blossom, and his needy uncle and his family. All of the women in The Good Earth such as O-lan, Lotus, and the Poor Fool have different personalities and roles which affect each other and the outcome of the novel in the end.
O-lan is a hard-working woman who never stops working and is always caring for others. She is the wife of a farmer and helps her …show more content…
The Poor Fool’s role is to bring attention to the younger women figure in the household that will be the next generation and that’s why Wang Lung cares for her so much. The Poor Fool is very shy and cannot talk. She is lonely all the time and is only cared for by Wand Lung. “Eat, poor fool, eat, while there is yet that which can be eaten” (71). Wang Lung was bonding with the poor fool during the drought, and he gave her the beans, so she would not die. The Poor Fool is helpless without someone caring for her. “‘This poor thing who has had care all her life from her mother and from me and when I die, after I am dead, you are to mix it in her rice and let her eat it, that she may follow me where I am.’” (352). Wang Lung is telling Pear Blossom to poison the Poor Fool when he dies, so she does not have to suffer here on her own with no one to care for her. The Poor Fool is an example of how women are treated and how they can still end up successful in