Tradition is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (such as a religious practice or a social custom)”. The role of tradition played an important part in the lives of the characters in Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. It especially shaped Wang Lung’s life as he followed certain practices, but defied others that he felt were not so meaningful. As a result, the lack of importance he placed on some beliefs influenced the way that Wang Lung related to his father and uncle and affected his daily life. He tried to follow his family’s customs and practices which included working on the land, wearing a braid, and respecting his elders. As Wang Lung got older he eventually found his way back to his roots, even though he had strayed away from certain family values and traditions during his early adulthood. At …show more content…
Traditionally, Wang Lung’s family was very religious, but when he was younger, he began to stray away from their values and openly defied the gods. In the text it states, "Thus it is with gods who do evil to men!" (Buck, 143). Wang believed that the gods controlled the earth, and before the dry season, he began to prosper. As a result, it seemed as if they were punishing him. Additionally, he carried out what Lotus commanded him to do which did not follow the norms of society because women had limited power or authority in China. This is shown when Lotus asked for him to cut off his braid and bring her gifts, and he got the act done. Even though he knew cutting off his braid was against his tradition, he did so to please Lotus without considering the consequences. Lastly, Wang Lung did not favor his uncle, but treated him with respect because that was expected. His uncle was an elder and in a time of need, Wang Lung supported his family and uncle with his great
Yan Zhitui states that, "women take charge of family affairs, entering into lawsuits, straightening out disagreements, and paying calls to seek favor...the government offices are filled with their fancy silks." (Differences between north and south, 111). Yet, even in the Qing dynasty women were still restricted by and expected to uphold more traditional ideals, especially in the public eye. So, in the end, through her virtue, Hsi-Liu’s two children we able to become upright. Here, there is a split between what a woman is supposed to be according to old Chinese tradition, and the realities facing women in Tancheng. The loss of her husband, and economic hardship had forced His-Liu to behave in a different way, as if she were usurping the power from the eldest son so she could teach the two boys a lesson about being good family members. While she still maintains the ideals of bearing children, and being loyal to her husband, even after he dies, out of necessity she is forced to break from Confucian ideals of being only concerned with the domestic issues. This too put her at odds with the more traditional society around her, as the villagers pitied her sons, but vilified the Hsi-Liu for being so strict with them (Woman Wang, 65). Had she remarried, she would have been looked down upon even more because she would had broken her duty to remain faithful to her deceased
The story began in the day of Wang Lung's marriage. Precisely, the author gives a brief description of the routine obligations of Wang Lung as a son. Waking up early in the morning so as to boil the water and prepare the breakfast for his father and cleaning the house are not just what Wang Lung did in every single morning, but he also went to the field to do farming so that his family, which most of the time included his uncle's as well, would not be starved to death. He did manage the farm very well, and year by year he worked the field, produced the food, and sold to the market. He did these things cleverly. To increase the farm productivity, he practiced crop rotation method. Importantly, although he was not educated and could not even figure out any letter, he was quite a good businessman which was not commonly found. He kept his products and waited until the demand went high and supply went scare before selling for a good price. And this gave him `silver'. Remarkably, not a single piece of silver had he spent carelessly. He did not even go to the tea house where people of his age and the elders usually went to and spent their money as easily as water flows. Indeed, he saved little by little in hope of getting married and improving his life and to care for the old man, who stayed at home but did nothing except demanding food, demanding care, complaining, and so on like a little hungry child.
From the beginning of Wang Lung’s marriage to O-lan, she saved him time, money, and effort without complaint. She offered wisdom when asked and was smart in the ways of the world. During the famine, when the family went south in search of food, O-lan taught her children how to beg for food, “dug the small green weeds, dandelions, and shepherds purse that thrust up feeble new leaves”(p. 128). She raised her children prudently. She knew how to bind her daughter’s feet, and she gave them a better childhood than she had had. O-lan knew that the land was the only consistent thing in her life, so she willingly helped Wang Lung as he bought more and more land. O-lan knew her place in the family was as a wife and mother. As a wife, she fe...
When his wife, O-lan sees this drastic change, she is horrified and rebukes her husband, telling him he “cut off his life”. O-lan’s criticism leaves Wang Lung regretful about his decision to cut his hair. Buck emphasizes the mutation of the symbol of hair in this passage, as Wang Lung’s hair no longer represents his loyalty to tradition, but rather his yearning to be modernized. O-lan emphasizes Wang Lung’s conversion to modernism when she exclaims that he “cut off his life”, which indicates that Wang Lung is ditching his traditional lifestyle by modernizing his hair. While Wang Lung does assimilate more to modern culture, he does experience guilt, realizing that he is being controlled by Lotus. Wang Lung’s regret proves that while his hair represents mostly modernism, it also of a bit of traditionalism. Therefore, Buck utilizes hair to highlight Wang Lung’s shift in
Everybody has their own ways of doing things. From spending money to the way they cook. In The Good Earth Wang Lung differs greatly from his selfish uncle. Wang Lung and his uncle are two similar men. They both come from the same type of heritage and they live in the same village. They are both married and they both have children that will carry on their family name. But still everybody is different. These two men differ when it comes to a number of things but their difference is in money.
nothing except that we are of a blood' ".(46) Wang Lung is upset that he had to
Wang Lung starts off poor, but happy. While he is not satisfied with his place in life, especially compared to the seemingly mighty and rich House of Hwang, Wang Lung is pleased to have a wife, Olan. Olan helps him in the fields, in addition to all of her housework, and she bears him sons. With her help, Wang Lung becomes successful and rich. His displeasure in his place in life is evident with Olan; while he is pleased to have her as his wife, he is upset that he cannot afford to have a wife with bound feet. Although he is disappointed in Olan’s appearance, it does not truly affect him until he becomes rich, at which point he decides that she is too ugly and he must take another wife, against his father’s wishes.
Tradition is defined in the dictionary as the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs and beliefs. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I believe has two main topics addressed: the traditions of the Hmong people, and the dangers of being unable to communicate. The misunderstanding of these two consequential points, I believe caused the majority of conflict that arose.
The Cultural Revolution in China was led by Mao Zedong, due to this Liang and many others faced overwhelming obstacles in many aspects of their life such as work, family and everyday encounters, if affected everyone’s families life and education, Liang lets us experience his everyday struggles during this era, where the government determined almost every aspect of life. The beginning of the book starts out with Liang’s typical life, which seems normal, he has a family which consists of three children, two older sisters and him the youngest, his two sister’s reside in Changsha 1. his father has an everyday occupation working as a journalist at a local newspaper. Things start to take a turn early in life for Liang Heng, his family politics were always questioned, the mistake made by one of his family members would impact his entire family and it would be something they would have to suffer through, it was impossible for them to live down such a sin.... ...
of three sons. But as time goes on, Wang Lung becomes rich and he loses his attraction for
Wang Lung needs a wife so saves up the little money he has and buys a woman who is a slave named O-lan. O-lan is sold to Wang Lung so she can take care of the home, cooking and bear children. Wang Lung is disappointed when he first sees O-lan because she does not have bound feet which was a desirable quality at that time but he does enjoy when O-lan has the food ready when he comes in a night from the land. Wang Lung is very proud when O-lan makes cakes that no one else in the village knows how to makes and when his family comes to feast for the new year at their house.
I would like to point out that Wang Lung was never the most filial of men. Early in the novel, we saw him slip up once or twice. However, at a younger age, he felt guilty when this happened and was able to hold his tongue in most situations. Wang Lung’s uncle is able to exploit Wang Lung based on his filial piety. When the uncle, a lazy man who blames his struggles on an “evil destiny”, asks his nephew to borrow money, Wang Lung explodes, saying, “‘If I have a handful of silver it is because I work and my wife works, and we do not…[let our] fields grow to weeds and our children go half fed!’” (65). But right after he lets these words slip, he “[stands] sullen and unmovable” (66) because knows that his outburst is wrong. However, later in the novel, Wang Lungs lack of sense for filial piety grows evident as he becomes more arrogant. For example, when he is nearing the end of his life, Wang Lung asks without a second thought to be buried below his father but above his uncle and Ching. Asking to be buried above his uncle makes the statement that Wang Lung believes he is a greater man than his uncle. Before his rise through the ranks of society, Wang Lung would never have even considered being buried above his uncle, even though he always had a disliking for him. However, because of his power, he feels that he has the right to disrespect his
In conclusion, Wu made us remember how important our grandparents no matter how different are we from each other. Also, I learned a lot from my grandparents, and some of things that I learned are that we should treat others with good manners and secondly, we shouldn’t blame others for things that we are uncertain they did it. What I learned from my grandfather made me owe both of my grandparents a lot. And off course one of the things that I and Wu share is that we miss our grandparents a lot and we hope to see them as soon as possible in the
Money and wealth change and influence Wang Lung as he evolves from a common peasant to a wealthy noble. For instance, towards the beginning, after he is shaved by a local barber before heading off to the House of Hwang, Wang Lung sees “the money counted into the barber’s wrinkled, water-soaked hand . . . [and] had a moment of horror” (11). A poor peasant in the beginning of the story, Wang Lung always thought completely about how he spent his money, whether he was shaving his face to look presentable or the wedding day itself. Thus, he wasn’t prone to spoiling himself with unnecessary luxuries, and thought of money to be used only when it is needed. Thereafter, on his second visit to the local House of Hwang, Wang Lung is treated as one of the nobles for his growing wealth and prospering harvest, shown when the gateman’s wife “presented to him [a bowl of tea] and he set it before him and did not drink of it, as though it were not good enough in quality tea leaves...
Together, Wang Lung and O-lan grow a profitable harvest from their land. O-lan becomes pregnant, and there first child is a son. Meanwhile, the powerful Hwang family is falling apart. Wang Lung is able to purchase a piece of the Hwang family's rice land. He enjoys another profitable harvest. O-lan gives birth to there second son. Wang Lung's new wealth catches the attention of his uncle. Custom says that Wang Lung must show the utmost respect to the elderly especially relatives. So obligated he loans his uncle money despite knowing that the money will be wasted on drinking and gambling. The Hwang family's finances continue to fall apart, and the Hwangs sell another piece of land to Wang Lung.