In Pearl Buck''s The Good Earth the main character is Wang Lung. Wang is conflicted over
his contradictory feelings towards his wife O-lan. For Wang Lung this conflict had been blossoming since his first foray into the tea house where he discovered his mistress Lotus. Lung moved his mistress into the house which he could now afford, building a space just for her and her maid to share, including a courtyard just for their use. Shortly thereafter O-lan dies and Wang''s conflict over bringing a second woman into the home is alleviated. Wang is still conflicted over the lingering thought of having hurt the woman who bore his sons, but that does not stop him from almost immediately moving into the part of the house in which Lotus is residing.
This particular situation also emphasized the many changes experienced by Wang Lung during his life and the changes that he was yet to experience in life.
Wang started as a simple farmer, even before he was supported and bolstered by the staid O-lan, yet now that she was deceased, he felt compelled to take his possessions and move in with the lovely and sexual Lotus. “He took his possessions and moved altogether into the inner court where Lotus lived,” (Buck 2004 pg 266)
Wang understood that O-lan, in a large way, represented a portion of his life that was no longer relevant, but was still important as a foundation for the family. Buck could have been portraying O-lan in a way that compares Wang''s feelings to the land. Wang always knew he would return to the land even when he had to take his family south in order to survive. Just like his feelings for the land, were his feelings towards O-lan. Wang states on page 269, “There in that land of mine is buried the first good half of my life and more.” With that understanding, Wang was saddened but accepted that Change was always going to be affecting his life. The changes Wang continually experienced were not only affecting him, but were affecting those who watched him as well. Gone was the time when Wang was looked upon as just a lowly ‘farmer’. Now he was gaining the respect of the town people and during the next ‘land crises’ the people from the town came to him to sell, “because it was known he was rich and powerful and a man of a good heart.” (pg 283)
It is likely that Wang was remembering back to the time when O-lan had made the ultimate sacrifice for him, and the family. “A poor silent face that lay there, having endured to the utmost, and there was nothing he could say.” (pg 82) He gazed upon the face of a woman who had sacrificed her own daughter for the good of the family. This event touched him to the core, and he would remember it years later when laying ‘the first half of his life’ to rest. No longer would his family have to endure starvation or need, but events and sacrifices such as they had earlier endured left a lasting mark on all involved. So, even though he had brought into the home another woman to care for his desires, he was still able to mourn the loss of his first wife.
It is not much later in the book that the author shows the reader(s) that some things never change in regards to the behavior of men as they gain more wealth. That Wang would, as he aged, need additional love, warmth and companionship in the guise of Pear Blossom would only serve to emphasize that no matter the degree of change found in Wang Lung’s family, some things would always stay the same. Wang moved into the abandoned House of Hwang (the similarity in name is ironic) and was even compared to the ‘Old Master’ for his penchant towards the yosex. As his family realized what he had done, the reactions of the different characters displayed a sense of how much life really did not change. “Wang looked fully into his son’s eyes, and he caught there a naked look of admiration.” (pg 344) Wang’s son gains an understanding into the life of his father, a life that was filled with toil, a life that was tied directly to the Good Earth. Pearl Buck does an excellent job of portraying how the land is the one constant, at least in Wang''s life, and that every other happening was subject to change.
Works Cited
Buck, Pearl (2004) The Good Earth, New York: Washington Square Press