"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck.

Essay by twent473sixt5High School, 10th gradeA+, October 2003

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Within the novel The Good Earth, Pearl Buck dishes out several themes that not only relate to the specific characters within the novel, but also can relate to almost any person at any point in time. Buck's novel was ahead of its' time for it played on the human tendency to inquire as to how other people live in everyday life just as many of today's "reality TV. shows" do such as "Survivor" or "Big Brother". Humans like to see how other humans live and compare themselves with the others in order to rate themselves against others. Almost any biography is fascinating because everyone's experiences are interesting whether they are just about simple child to parent or husband to wife relations or nearly starving to death. Buck uses this principle to its fullest capabilities by telling the life story of a mere peasant. Everyone is born and then dies, but what happens in between is what defines the person.

The themes of The Good Earth are very basic, yet very compelling at the same time, and can be motivating and appealing to anyone.

Just as is in the novel, unless your views become skewed by wealth or another (sometimes) evil force, you will only truly love the things that remain true you over the entire duration of your life. That is shown in this work of fiction when at the conclusion of the story the protagonist (Wang Lung) finds that the only things that were worth loving and trusting were the land and his first wife, O-Lan. The land was always there and never bailed out on the poor fellow. Wang found that the majority of his family couldn't even be trusted. This can be seen through the following conversation at the end of the novel as...