The Good Earth
Pre-communist society was based on the teachings of Kung Fuzi (Confucius, 550-478 BC), whose main doctrine explained that inequality of the sexes in society was natural and necessary. He thought that everyone had his place- and a woman's place was at the bottom of the hierarchy. Kung Fuzi stated 'Women are human but lower than men' and 'It is the law of nature that woman should not be allowed any will of her own.' In Daughters of the Dragon, by Christine Hall, she lists many beliefs and proverbs, said by Kung Fuzi, that followed reiterated the woman's role in society: 'Women have no voice, and their words carry no weight.' 'The woman's right place is within and the man's right place is without.' 'Man is like sun and woman is like moon who shines only in his light.' 'If you read a son, he belongs to you; if you read a daughter, she belongs to another family.' 'An educated woman is bound to cause trouble.' In Pearl Buck's The Good Earth and other book resources about China, women are exploited by society. The women of pre-revolutionary China were considered inferior and they were supposed obey her parents, be common housewives, and used as toys.Because the Chinese culture believed that women were worthless, parents were br
Wives tried to make lives for men perfect with all luxuries possible, while they got nothing for themselves and were treated cruelly. For example, in Pang-Mei Natasha Chang's Bound Feet and Western Dress, Chang starts the book off by reminding the reader "a woman is nothing. When she is born, she must obey her father. When she is married, she must obey her husband. And when she is widowed, she must obey her son" (p. 6). The filial responsibility of China is the idea of respecting elders, but women have to listen to men, despite their age. She has to obey her son, even though she gave birth to him. In The Good Earth, O-lan prepares the first big dinner for the family and "Wang Lung [feels] in him a great pride that this woman [is] his and did not fear to appear before him" (p. 23), but he tells his audience "it is poor stuff- it is badly prepared. But in his heart he [is] proud of the dishes" (p. 23). A proper housewife needs to know how to cook to impress her new family. Even though it is O-lan's first day in Wang Lung's home, she has to work very hard to make her dishes the best to make her first appearance look good. Wang Lung does not say anything about her dishes, because when men compliment women, it means they like them, and Wang Lung does not want O-lan to get that impression. Also, when O-lan is giving birth to their first son, Wang Lung just waits at the door, crying "Is it a man? Tell me at least this- is it a man?" (p. 37). One of the things women are good at is giving birth. If a wife cannot bear sons, she would be seen as a failure. In fact, women who only gave birth to daughters were often called "barren." Housewives had to do a lot of things and at times were taken advantage of. Women had a hard time in pre-revolutionary China. Before communism, there were no benefits to being a woman, but now
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1240
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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