The Good Earth - A Summary

The Good Earth is a historical fiction novel by the author Pearl S. Buck, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and was featured in Oprah Winfrey's Book Club in 2004. Published in 1931, it is the first in a trilogy of books, and is succeed by Sons in 1932 and A House Divided in 1935. Donald Davis and Owen Davis adapted The Good Earth into a play which was later made in to a feature film called The Good Earth in 1937. Luise Rainer portrayed the female protagonist, O-Lan, and got an Oscar for her performance. The male lead, Wang Lung was played by Paul Muni.

The Good Earth is about racism in the West and aimed to make Americans in the 1930s comfortable with seeing the Chinese as their allies against the anticipated war against Japan. The medium used by Buck to achieve this purpose in The Good Earth is to portray it through the life of a family in a Chinese village. Upon publication, The Good Earth became an instant best seller and is still very popular. It has immense staying power and the message it delivers is profound.

The Good Earth follows the ups and downs of Wang Lung's life and his deep bond with the land. The land - "the Good Earth" forms the basis of the central conflict in the story, with the heroes revering and embracing it, and their opponents spurning and disrespecting it. The Hwang house forms a parallel to Wang Lung's twists of fortune, and is contrasted with the same in The Good Earth. These elements give The Good Earth a sound structure and framework to weave the story in. When the Hwang house meets its gradual end, Wang Lung rises to the top concurrently. The Good Earth begins with Wang Lung and O-Lan's wedding day, and subsequently the readers see how frugal and hard working the couple are, and how circumstances make them seek a livelihood in the city. Interestingly, they sell all that they possess, but do not sell the land.

While in the city, the protagonists of The Good Earth find themselves impoverished, estranged and bewildered. All this takes place within the landscape of a very hostile political climate, increasing Wang Lung's desire to return to his land along with O-Lan and their three children. In a riot a frightened rich man who is convinced that Wang Lung will kill him, offers him gold in exchange for his own life. With the help of this gold, Wang Lung and his family return to their village, a turning point in The Good Earth. The farm or The Good Earth that forms the center of this novel brings the family prosperity, and Wang Lung's rise is contrasted sharply with the fall of the House of Hwang - his connection back to the good earth is compared with the loss of the same connection between the Hwang house and the good earth.

Eventually Wang Lung takes over the land and the house of the Hwang family. A concubine named Lotus and good food become his principal vices as the conflicts between his younger and older son grow. In The Good Earth, Wang Lung desires peace but can do nothing to stop the disputes occurring within his own family. The end of the novel comes with one of Wang Lung's sons planning to sell off the good earth, and bringing the house of Wang to a full stop. Wang Lung's faint protests in protection of the good earth are drowned in the false promises of his sons and their amusement in his ineffectuality.