The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

Introduction

The Good Earth (1931) written by Pearl Buck, is the first novel in the trilogy, which tells the story of the family of Wang Lung, viscerally attached to his land, and the humble and resigned O-Lan, his wife. The central theme is that of patriarchal life, linked to secular customs, the Chinese peasant, for which the land represented everything: well-being, family union, the most sacred traditions, virtues of generations past and the hopes of the future. The Good Earth is the book that has made the reputation of Buck, who in this novel describes with simplicity, power and a deep sense of humanity and subtle world of the humble and oppressed. His writing, realistic and shy, skinny from the lexicon, but capable of arousing emotions, captivate readers with the novelty of a story that reveals a hitherto unknown country, with its ancient culture, its ancient misery, his dignity, his poetry of simple things. The Good Earth is a novel set in pre-revolutionary China, the country in which Pearl S. Buck lived most of his life. This novel is part of a trilogy complete with Wang Lung's sons and the family scattered (Buck, 2004).

Discussion

The Good Earth tells the story of three generations of a peasant family in pre-Communist China. The masterful portrayal of traditional agrarian order of the rigid social structures of imperial China lives with a beautiful painting, and profound, oriental soul, the stoicism of the peasants against poverty and hunger and its central link land, 'the land from which derived their livelihood, your home was built and its gods. The Good Earth, published in 1931, reaped immediate success and quickly became one of the reference works neared East and West the feeling described the acute social tensions that led to the proclamation of the Republic of China in 1949.

The writer of the book “Pearl Buck” received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. He wrote many novels about China, as he spent most of his life in this country. With The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize and spawned a trilogy, completed by Wang Lung's Children and Family Scattered (Buck, 1935).

This book talks about what life was like in pre-communist China. It is through his characters how we meet their customs and way of life. We as women are relegated from birth and how they ...