The Good Earth Style
Pearl Buck's style in The Good Earth has been compared to old Chinese
novels. Actually, it is a simple, direct narrative style. There are no
complicated techniques such as cut-back or stream of consciousness. The
narrative moves along smoothly towards its conclusion. By the same token there
are no complicated subplots or subthemes. Wang Lung is the central character;
the actions of all the other characters relate directly to him. No one in the
story performs any action which is independent of the main action.
Perhaps the greatest strength of the style of Pearl Buck in The Good
Earth is the manner in which her characters perform. No matter what any one
of them does, it is always in keeping with his personality. Nevertheless,
none of them can be described as stereotypes; their motivations are too
complex. In O-lan, the reader sees a person who is fundamentally good. Yet
she does some seemingly wicked things. She steals the jewels from the rich
man's house. Worse than this, she kills her own child. But both of these
actions are consistent with her character and the context of the situations
she is involved in.
Much has been written about Pearl Buck's style of writing in The Good Earth. One critic calls it "almost Biblical," while others compare it to ancient folk epics. Another critic describes it as a mixture of the King James Version of the Bible and a traditional Chinese epic.
A writer's style can't always be traced to the influences of his or her childhood reading, but in Pearl Buck's case the two influences mentioned above did exist. As the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, Buck was brought up on the Bible. And although she read widely in English literature, she also read Chinese novels.
As Buck herself explained, Chinese novels were written for a wide popular audience. They developed from the tales that professional storytellers once told to a crowd of people sitting on the ground around them, at a time when most Chinese--like most people everywhere--could neither read nor write. Buck translated one of these Chinese novels into English, and she lectured and wrote on the popular art of the Chinese novel.
Buck wrote The Good Earth at great speed, finishing it in three months.
The tragedies of the holocaust forever altered history. One of the most detailed accounts of the horrific events from the Nazi regime comes from Elie Wiesel’s Night. He describes his traumatic experiences in German concentration camps, mainly Buchenwald, and engages his readers from a victim’s point of view. He bravely shares the grotesque visions that are permanently ingrained in his mind. His autobiography gives readers vivid, unforgettable, and shocking images of the past. It is beneficial that Wiesel published this, if he had not the world might not have known the extent of the Nazis reign. He exposes the cruelty of man, and the misuse of power. Through a lifetime of tragedy, Elie Wiesel struggled internally to resurrect his religious beliefs as well as his hatred for the human race. He shares these emotions to the world through Night.
and was a greater burden to him towards the end of the novel after the
Although Wiesel and his father’s relationship starts out very distant, they are almost inseparable by the time his father dies. So many things bring them closer, and they push each other to stay alive. Once Wiesel’s father dies, nothing else matters to him anymore. He does not describe the three months between when his father died and when he was liberated because nothing could touch him anymore. His father was his only weak spot, and he had vanished. This completely traumatizes Wiesel and will remain imprinted in his mind forever. Eleven million innocent peoples’ lives were destroyed, which makes the holocaust arguably the worse event in the history of the world. Although this is only the story of Elie Wiesel, millions of others will be left a little footprint on this tragedy that will be remembered forever.
of course the book tells us who kills him. Who was really responsible for his death? Was it really
Both characters fate and free will along with their ability to have intolerant-mind, played a major role in deciding their individual
Nelson Mandela was and will continue to be one of the most influential people throughout history. The mistreatment he endured, the struggles he encountered, and the racial discrimination he faced did not stop him from accomplishing the goal he set forth for him and his people. Nelson Mandela, Rolihlahla, was the son of a chief of the Madiba clan. After his father's death he was sent to live with Jongintaba Dalindyebo, a high-ranking Thembu regent, who provided him with the best education blacks could receive. After protesting local injustices in his community he fled to Johannesburg to escape an arranged marriage. During his time there he became involved in the movement against racial discrimination , he was later arrested in which in time
To many in the United States and Europe, World War II is an icon that represents unimaginable turmoil and tragedy. The hardships brought about by World War II raises the theodicy question of how a righteous God could allow the Nazi’s to reign. Elie Wiesel was one of the many Jews who were persecuted during this period of history. When he was fifteen years of age, Wiesel was a prisoner in the infamous Aushwitz concentration camp (Brown vii). In an introduction to the trial of god, writer Robert Brown takes note of what Wiesel witnessed.
Mr. Wiesel had intended this book to describe a period of time in his life that had been dark and sorrowful. This novel is based on a survivor of the greatest Holocaust in history, Eliezer Wiesel and his journey of being a Jew in 1944. The journey had started in Sighet, Transylvania, where Elie spent his childhood. During the Second World War, Germans came to Elie and his family’s home town. They brought with them unnecessary evil and despair to mankind. Shortly after young Elie and thousands of other Jews were forced from their habitats and torn from their rights of being human. They were sent to different concentration camps. Elie and his family were sent to Auschwitz, a concentration and extermination camp. It would be the last time Elie sees his mother and little sister, Tzipora. The first sights of Auschwitz were terrifying. There were big flames coming from the burning of bodies and the crematoriums. The Jews had no idea of what to expect. They were not told what was about to happen to them. During the concentration camp, there was endless death and torture. The Jews were starved and were treated worse than cattle. The prisoners began to question their faith in God, wondering why God himself would
One of these famous American authors was Mark Twain. Mark Twain wrote many stories and novels that became popular because of their theme of individualism. Some of his more popular stories were The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court , The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, Roughing It. One of Mark Twain's story that really illustrated the theme of individualism is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The man’s character is significant to the theme of the story because it illustrates the role he plays and the conflict of the story. However, London doesn’t
Through his use of irony, contrast, and unrealistic descriptions Wiesel crafts a memory that we both shy away from and feel the deepest attraction towards. He skillfully creates a sense of confusion in us as he moves between two poles when describing his experiences and emphasizes the irrationality of the concentration camps with a tone of irony. Through all the suffering Eliezer faces, however, he tries to shine through the ugliness with beauty both through his memories and his writing style. Wiesel writes a masterful memoir that will leave a deep and profound impression on anyone.
style of her own, and she knew what style was. She used to read to
However, not all characteristics of the characters are bad; it is that a mixture of good and bad is found in most of the characters. Two authors who express the Southern Gothic writing style are William Faulkner, who wrote “A Rose for Emily,” and Flanner O Conner, the author of “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” A great example of this type of writing is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O' Conner. It is a story about a family trip gone that has turned out bad, a selfish grandma causes her entire family to be stranded after the car crashes and is put into a ditch.
Lindo Jong provides the reader with a summary of her difficulty in passing along the Chinese culture to her daughter: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame . . . You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. . . . but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why Chinese thinking is best”(Tan 289).
The United States and China are two very large countries that have cultures that are well known throughout the world. There are many differences between the United States and China, but there are many contributing factors that shape the cultures of these two countries. Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China, citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996, p.304).