Good Earth
Taoists often use anecdotes to describe and present lessons of life. For example, The Missing Axe teaches that people see only what they want to see. Another important Taoist story, The Lost Horse, proves the falseness of first impressions. Similarly, Pearl Buck expresses this idea of false impressions in The Good Earth. When Wang Lung makes judgments about other characters throughout the novel, Buck shows how one's first impressions of others can be wrong. One of Wang Lung's first impressions of O-lan is that she is worthless, but after their marriage, O-lan proves his judgment to be incorrect. When he first meets her in the House of Hwang, he immediately receives a negative impression when he "saw with an instant's disappointment that her feet were not bound" (13). This negative impact increases when he does not find "beauty of any kind in her face" (14). Judging only on her physical appearance, Wang Lung incorrectly dec
Like Poor Fool, Pear Blossom proves Wang Lung's belief of her being useless, incorrect. When Pear Blossom's father offers her as a slave for Wang Lung, he is reluctant to buy her for she appears to be a "delicate maid" that is "small and weak" (205) and not likely to do much work. For the same reasons, Lotus favors her. To avoid an argument with Lotus, Wang Lung unwillingly buys her. As years pass, their love for each other increases and grows into the love between father and daughter. She becomes the closest person Wang Lung has and "it was a comfort to him now when he saw Pear Blossom was faithful" (253). Wang Lung's initial impression of Pear Blossom proves false when she provides company during later years and eliminates his worries for Poor Fool. This change from seeing both the Poor Fool and Pear Blossom negatively to growing fond of them, once again shows that first impressions are not reliable. Pearl Buck successfully
Some common words found in the essay are:
Wang Lung, Wang Lung's, Pear Blossom, Poor Fool, House Hwang, Pearl Buck, wang lung, Poor Fool's, , Missing Axe, wang lung's, pear blossom, poor fool, Lost Horse, wang lung's life, fool pear, pearl buck, negative impression, lung's life, blossom proves, impressions o-lan, poor fool pear, pear blossom proves, fool pear blossom,
Approximate Word count = 628
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|