The Good Earth

Pearl Buck's The Good Earth is one of those books I seem to have avoided during my school years. It's either no longer used often in curricula or my particular school path (public school followed by home-schooling and then private school) simply meandered around it.

Wang Lung is a simple Chinese farmer who's greatest ambition is to marry, have sons and work his land. During the course of his life he achieves great success as defined by land ownership and wealth. As with many people of sub-par character, Wang Lung's success makes him forgetful of minor details, like his wife's damaged pride and failing health.

O-lan came to her husband from a wealthy household where she had been raised as a kitchen slave. Per his father's request, she is not beautiful. Wang Lung's father is afraid that if his son's wife is beautiful she won't be a good laborer and will have been spoiled (physically and temperamentally) by the attention of the young men in the household where she was raised.

O-lan is as plain as can be and her training in the great house makes her an ideal mate for a poor farmer. She is uncomplaining and hard-working, birthing her numerous children alone, quietly and with a minimum of fuss. Her householding skills impress Wang Lung and save the family on more than one occasion.

Clearly, Buck knows that women who have been oppressed and overlooked often develop greater inner resources than women who are lavished with gifts and attention. O-lan and her rival, Lotus, are at opposite ends of the spectrum. O-lan is a silent workhorse who reflects on her tragedies and triumphs while rarely revealing her inner thoughts, even to the man who shares her bed. Lotus is the whore we love to hate. She is petite and beautiful, with only enough inner depth to plot for her own gain.

Even though The Good Earth is Wang Lung's story, I find that O-lan stands out in my mind as the most astonishing character. There have been millions of women like her throughout time and around the world. She is a woman who is able to survive the worst and drag her family into better times, often through sacrifices her husband and children will barely notice or understand.