Here we see how Wang Lung likes to control different aspects of his household, including his children.
Wang Lung's relationship with his daughters represents how individuals can have different attitudes toward men and women. Women are generally very quiet and they are treated more like objects as they are traded and sold for marriage. One of the most powerful scenes in the novel occurs after O-Lan kills her daughter just after giving birth to her. Wang Lung realizes that O-Lan killed the child and after he removes the dead baby from his house, he realizes O-Lan was right and thinks, "It is better as it is" (59). Here we see how he realizes O-Lan was right. At the end of the novel, he asks Pear Blossom to poison his "poor fool" (253) of a daughter because there is no hope for her having a decent future. Here we see how women are seen and treated...
While he is a normal man with normal emotions, we see how his culture taught him to treat men and women differently. At times, he loved his wife and at other times, he resented her for having big feet because it is desirable for Chinese women to have small feet. He also treats his children differently. He banishes his rebellious son from his household and is determined not to let his other soon become rebellious. He also treats his daughters indifferently at times. He does not mourn the loss of his daughter like he would had the child been a male. The Good Earth tells Wang Lung's story but it also tells the story of Chinese culture at the turn of the century.
Works Cited
Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth. New…
