The Good Earth – Book Report

 

The Good Earth – Book Report

Book : The Good Earth

Auther : Pearl S. Buck

Publisher : Collins Publication

First Published : 1932 A.D.

Genre : Fiction, Drama

 

“The Good Earth” written by Pearl S. Buck, is an American Classic novel based on the struggles and hardships of the mid twentieth Chinese society. The story shows the misery and melancholy of the rural yet developing Chinese society.

Plots:

Wang Lung, a farmer of a rural province of China lives through poverty. Just like other farmers of his time he lives with uncertainty and dependence on the natural rain and nature. He is a simple minded farmer, who contains traits like perseverance, dedication and optimistic feelings. Days after days he toils in his field and through his extreme hardship and unexpected luck, Wang Lung attains wealth, which was unimaginable to him before. The story continues with a change in Wang Lung’s characters from a simple and kind person to an arrogant and greedy figure. As the proverb, “Money is the root of all evil” , Wang Lung gets himself in luxury and lavish life. He also gets involved in immoral activities and gets involved with concubines/ prostitutes. As the story continues we can see his family slowly falling apart. This brews mistrust among the family members and Wang Lund looses his peace of mind. Wang Lung longs for peace in the family but as the family breaks there is only quarrel in the family. Over time as there grows greed in Wang Lung’s sons, it is seen that they slowly weaken his wealth and lead to their down fall.

 

The book “The Good Earth” provides readers an essence of the traditional community, class hierarchy and many more. The writer has minutely and more carefully elaborated …………. and every insight of the story. Having lived in China, Pearl S. Buck has managed to beautifully express the small incidents that went in the Chinese society.

I really like how all the plots are connected. One incident such as the communist revolution affects the life of the family drastically. The book shows the tragedy of wealth and the change in psychology over time with respect to situation that arise. One can learn to value the simple life and understand the dangers of wealth.

I really recommend this book to all the teenagers. Contemporary readers should take a step back from modern fiction, and experience the pain of hardship, joy, betrayal, misery, this Chinese drama presents. I would definitely consider this book “a book to read and re-read” – as the knowledge in it is vast and essential.