The Dichotomy of Beauty in The Good Earth
A pearl's beginnings stem from a tiny grain of sand finding it's way into the lowly oyster. One marvels at the beauty found beneath its uncomely shell. Such is the beauty encountered in The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck. Wang Lung is a poor yet industrious farmer in a small village of China during the late 1800's. A hard-working man, he is given a simple slave girl, O-lan, as a wife. As the fruits of their labor and the luck of the gods may have it, Wang Lung prospers, becoming a wealthy land owner. In time, he seeks to find pleasure in a second woman, Lotus, as his toy. However, the outward beauty he chooses in Lotus completely contrasts with that of the inner beauty found in O-lan. As the time arrives for Wang Lung's father to choose for him a wife, he tells his son, as a poor farmer, that "with weddings costing as they do in these evil days...there remain only slaves to be had for the poor" (The Good Earth, Buck 8). His father makes it clear that the slave woman should not be too young or too pretty, for his son "must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children" (8). On the day of their wedding, Wang Lung finally gets to set eyes on O-lan: She had a square, honest face, a short, broad nose with
In reflecting thus, Wang Lung felt that O-lan surely had no need for objects of beauty. So much that, Wang Lung deemed that the two lone beautiful pearls O-lan had long kept hidden in her bosom were better used as an adornment for Lotus' ears. Wang Lung may have taken the beautiful pearls from O-lan to enhance the outward beauty of Lotus, but in doing so, it did not lessen the inner beauty of O-lan. large black nostrils, and her mouth was wide as a gash in her face. Her eyes were small and of a dull black color, and were filled with some sadness that was not clearly expressed. It was a face that seemed habitually silent and unspeaking, as though it could not speak if it would. (19) O-lan never loses her unfailing inner beauty. She continues to be a humble servant to her husband and children, ensuring his continued good fate. Lotus, in contrast, grows older and lazier, becoming plump and not-so-beautiful. As Lotus' outward beauty fades away, O-lan's health begins to waste away. Wang Lung becomes acutely aware of the wealth of beauty O-lan actually possesses. He marvels at her steadfastness and her loyalty to him. Sadly so, he ensures that her last days were, at long last, full of comfort. O-lan dies a beautiful death; nonetheless her symbolic beauty never fades away from the heart and mind of Wang Lung. Wang Lung is pleased that she does not have a pockmarked fa
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Approximate Word count = 939
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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