The Good Earth: Summary Essay, Research Paper

The Good Earth: Summary

Wang Lung was the son of a peasant farmer. When it came for him to marry,

his father chose a slave girl from the house of Hwang who was hardworking. O-

lan, Wang Lung’s wife was a good wife for Wang Lung. She did not waste

anything, and made items such as shoes for the family so Wang Lung could save

his money for other things.. She worked endlessly for Wang Lung and his father,

and even helped Wang Lung plow the field. One day while helping on the field,

O-lan went inside and bore their first child. Luckily, it was a boy. Girls at

that time were always slaves, or married to other family’s sons. They named

him Nung Wen.

Before leaving the house of Hwang earlier, O-lan promised to bring their

first child to pay respects to the house. That year, the harvest was good, so

Wang Lung bought new clothes for O-lan, the baby, and himself. After paying

their respects, Wang Lung made a deal with the house of Hwang and bought a plot

of good land just outside the house. One year later, another boy was born and

was named Nung En.

Wang Lung’s third child was a disaster. Not only was it a girl, but she

was born retarded. That summer, a drought hit the area where Wang Lung lived,

and it did not rain for months. There was little harvest, and soon all of the

wheat was gone. Starving, Wang Lung had his ox killed for food, but could not

bear to watch because the beast had been so faithful to him. Not having any

money, Wang Lung sold the furniture in his house for a few silver pieces. His

fourth child was born in the drought, and was born dead. The family was forced

to move South to find food, so with the money he made from selling the

furniture, Wang Lung paid train fare to go down south.

On the train, Wang Lung spent some more money to buy material so they

could build a hut when they reached the city. At the city, they built their

hut, and discovered a kitchen where for almost no money at all, a person could

eat all of the rice they wanted. Wang Lung bought enough rice for his family,

and they ate it heartily. Now, Wang Lung needed money again, so the next day

he rented a ricksha to transport the rich around the city for money, and O-lan

and the children begged for money. After paying the rent for the ricksha, Wang

Lung did not make a lot, but it was enough to support his family for another

day or so. They did this all through the winter, each day earning just enough

money to make it to the next.

One day, after the rich men left, soldiers came in and fought with the

enemy that was approaching them. The poor took advantage of this, and raided

the rich man’s house. O-lan, knowing the ways of the rich, found a secret

stash of expensive jewels, and Wang Lung got a handful of gold after

threatening a rich man who was hiding. With this money, Wang Lung returned

home with his family.

When Wang Lung got back, he repaired his home which was damaged by

weather. Within the next six years, Wang Lung bought much more land from the

house of Hwang, his first two sons began attending school, and he hired seven

men to work the land including a neighbor Ching, and O-lan had borne him twins,

a boy, and a girl. Wang Lung also discovered that O-lan had hidden a pouch

full of expensive jewels from him that she found in the rich man’s house. When

Wang Lung found the jewels, he took them all from her except for two pearls

that O-lan liked.

So the men worked well until there was a great flood. All of the land

was flooded and could not be farmed. It was then that his uncle, his uncle’s

wife, and son came to live with Wang Lung. During this flood, the neighbor’s

houses were robbed, but Wang Lung’s house was not. He found out that his uncle

was second to the chief of the robbers. Knowing this, Wang Lung was forced to

let his uncle’s family live with him, or he would be robbed or even murdered.

Not being able to farm, Wang Lung began visiting the city for entertainment.

He discovered a tea shop where he fell in love with a woman named The Lotus

Flower. After a month of seeing Lotus, he bought her from the tea shop and

took her home as a concubine. O-lan did not like this, but Wang Lung would not

let Lotus live anywhere else, so he built a courtyard with adjacent rooms for

Lotus to live in. The courtyard had a small pool, and Wang Lung bought only

expensive foods for his Lotus.

When Wang Lung found out that his older son was seeing Lotus when he was

away, he decided to have him married to a grain merchant’s daughter. The

wedding took place, and shortly afterwards, O-lan died of a stomach illness,

and soon afterwards, Wang Lung’s father died. Wang Lung then apprenticed his

younger son to the grain merchant Liu, and his youngest daughter was betrothed

to Liu’s young son.

Thinking of a way to get rid of his uncle and his wife, he persuaded

them to start smoking opium that he had paid for. Once they became addicted,

they were too busy with the drug to bother Wang Lung. But, his uncle’s son did

not take the opium, and began to annoy Wang Lung’s older son’s wife by talking

dirty and walking around with his robe open. Seeing this, Nung Wen became very

angry and Wang Lung rented a portion of the house of Hwang. The uncle and his

wife were left in the country with their opium, and the uncle’s son left to

join the army.

When Ching died, Wang Lung stopped farming and rented out his land,

hoping that his youngest son would tend the land, but when he took a girl that

his youngest son liked, his youngest son ran away from home and joined the army.

When Wang Lung’s death came near, he moved back to the country to be

with his land. He brought only his slave Pear Blossom, that his youngest son

loved, and his first daughter that was simple. One day as he was looking at

the fields with his sons, he heard them talking about how they were going to

spend their inheritance and what they would do with the money they would make

from selling the land. Wang Lung cried out that they must never sell the land

because only with land could they be sure of earning a living. But Wang Lung

did not see his sons look at each other over his head and grin.