Themes of The Good Earth :: Pearl Buck Good Earth Essays

Themes of The Good mankind The theme of this fable is not a complicated one. The author is trying to show how a family can rise from poverty to a position of wealth. However, the rise in itself is not the crucial element the background against which this rise subscribes place is to a greater extent important. Wang Lung lives in an era of change. China has been a backward country in many respects. Her principal fault, however, was the existence of two distinct classes of race - the full and the execrable. The rich led a pseudo-cultural existence unconcerned with the realities of the country. The poor in between fighting plagues, floods and famines, were taxed as well. On the fringe of these two groups were the robbers bands who sacked wherever they could. The ancient aristocracy of China was rotting away as the result of its own greed. Waiting for their chance was a group of youthfulness intellectuals who claimed that they were going to bring about many reforms. How ever, since the time that The Good Earth was written in 1931, history has shown that these revolutionaries only intended to replace the old aristocracy with a new one. They had little intention of doing any issue constructive for the poor people. As a result, when the Communists came after World War II, they were able to take over China very easily. Where does Wang Lung fit into this picture? He is a poor man who knows nothing besides the value of land. Therefore, he spends his spotless life building up a large estate. However, he builds tally to the old system. As he becomes richer, he bursts himself from his own people and he allows himself and his family to fall into the same faults that the other rich had. Then he allows his sons to separate themselves from the land - that which had given them their wealth. Although the author does not carry the story through, the contributor knows that this family is destined to fall. The earth-theme is predominant throughout. As a man pours his energies into his land he reaps great benefits-survival and self-respect. Miss Buck appears to be saying that the only thing that can truly save China is the honest toil of her people who must be allowed to claim the rewards of their