The Good Earth

A story for every age in every part of the globe.  China may have been the  only country that bound women's feet, but women's voices are silenced in  every section of the globe.  In the writing of this story, Pearl S. Buck gave O-lan the voice she never had.

The story revolves around  Wang’s desire to become a good farmer and his understanding that he needed a wife to take care of life's necessary chores so that he could be the person he wanted to be.  He was tired of having to get up early in the morning and boil water for his father's tea. He needed someone to take care of his aging father, someone to give him sons, someone to boil water, make meals and clean up when the day is done and then start all over the next day and not make any demands on him.  He found that in O-lan, a kitchen slave from the great House of Hwang.

O-lan is the true heroine of the story.  She has learned much from her life as a slave and can bear children alone, work in the fields and long into the night.  She could do much of this because her feet were not bound as a child.  Wang was disappointed  that her feet were never bound because that meant they were not dainty little feet he could admire. Those with bound feet could not walk as the toes were bent back in childhood so they couldn't run, or work in the fields as O-lan was able to. But all Wang saw was her big feet. When he went searching for a wife, he understood the cultural norm/belief that only men of wealth and leisure needed beautiful women with dainty feet for their pleasure.

For decades, Wang and O-lan worked the fields  and over time the good earth provided them with plenty of silver to feed and house their sons and daughter. Unfortunately as the good earth provided him more silver for leisure pursuits, he became that wealthy lord who believed it was his right to have   beautiful women with dainty feet. It was at the House of Tea in the Village that Wang found Peach Blossom and brought her to his house to live as a 2nd wife.  He even built onto the house a separate living area for her.  He took O-lan's prize possession of two small pearls and had them made into earrings for Peach Blossom.  There was no end to feeding his own desire.

O-lan dies in the story and the good earth so prized by Wang becomes just a tool for wealth for his sons.  They were eager to sell the land for they had no desire to farm but they had  to wait for their father to pass away before doing so.

In many ways this is the same old story about greed and lust that is a part of every generation.What sets in apart is the writing and the passion in which the story is told. This should be a must read in high schools everywhere.

After reading this, there’s no doubt why Pearl S. Buck received the Pulitzer Prize in 1935.  She was the first American  women to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1938.