The Good Earth by
Pearl S. Buck (1931)
Pinneo
About the author –
Pearl S. Buck
• Buck was born in West Virginia, but
spent much of her childhood in China
with her parents, who did missionary
work there
• After college in America, Buck
married and moved to China
• Buck and her husband lived in
Suzhou, Anhui Province, a small
town on the Huai River
About the author –
Pearl S. Buck
• These years spent in Suzhou, a poor
and rural area, served as the basis
for the impoverished area and
lifestyle described in The Good Earth
• Tried to create a faithful
representation of the Chinese people
Setting
• China, late 1890s/early 1900s
• 1st and 3rd parts of the book are set
in small, rural areas
• Middle part of the book is set in large
city – very “worldly”
Chinese customs/traditions
• The color red
• Foot-binding
– Women and their families took pride in small,
perfectly shaped feet
– Appealing to men for “beauty” and the
sociological symbol and restrictions this put on
women
• Religious practices/spirit world
– Luck, karma
• Family structure
• Culture biased towards male children
Main characters
• Wang Lung – protagonist, a poor
farmer living alone with his father
• O-Lan – Wang Lung’s wife (former
servant in the House of Hwang)
• Wang Lung’s relatives: father, uncle,
cousin
• Children
Essential Questions
• How should we treat our families?
• Is productivity a component of contentment?
• What are the repercussions of
excessive greed?
• How do the values and traditions of the past
conflict with modern values?
• What role does the earth/land play in the lives
of the characters? Why is it such an important
motif in the novel at every step of the way?
***What is the theme/message the author is trying
to convey about the above subjects?***
Motifs to note
*Motif = a reoccurring subject, image, or idea used
purposefully by the author
Pay attention to the situations and
characters that relate to the following ideas:
•tradition
•family/respect for elders
•loyalty/disloyalty
•the effects of wealth/poverty
•the earth/the land
•color red