The Good Earth - Chapter One

In the novel, The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck displays how in the early 20th century, China was a very different world; the women had no rights and were treated poorly, and poverty was destroying many people and families. Wang Lung was a young man who was accompanied by his grouchy old father; because he was coming to the age were he would have to tend to the farm and provide food and water for his family he decided to go buy a woman servant. Wang Lung went to the House of Hwang and bought a wife; although there was to be a wedding, unlike other weddings, this would not be the happiest day of his life. When he arrived at the House of Hwang he was publicly humiliated. "In a house like this we feed that kind of meat to the dogs." (p.2) Although he was embarrassed he accepted his place in the world -- a lower class citizen who was humble about who and what he was. After he had received the woman he took her home to prepare a meal. The concept of women being treated unfairly is clearly shown in this chapter. Poor women were bought and sold like items instead of real human beings and in a marriage that is not based upon love, but the need of a slave, the women were owned not wanted. That is why Wang Lung and his father were constantly talking about how it wasn't the beauty that mattered but how hard she worked.
This book could well be a tragedy because of the symbols and plot. Winter, snow, rain, and darkness are used many times throughout the chapter and represent a tragic mode. In the beginning of the chapter Wang Lung was living a hard and lonely life, that symbolizes the world in conflict, but when he got a wife who would help him with his load of work that represents his rise to power. "Now it was as if Heaven had chosen this day to wish him well. Earth would bear fruit." (p.2) This quote represents a new beginning in Wang Lung's life -- a change that will guided by fate.