The Good Earth (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Pearl S. Buck
- First Published: 1931
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: Early twentieth century
- Setting: Northern China
- Genres: Long fiction, Domestic realism, Family literature, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: Family or family life, Parents and children, Twentieth century, Slavery or slaves, Marriage, Farms, farmers, or farming, Inheritance or succession, Greed, Landlords or tenants, Ambition, Wealth, China or Chinese people, Old age or elderly people, Peasantry or peasants, Opium
- Locales: Anhwei, China
Characters Discussed
Wang Lung, an ambitious farmer who sees in the land the only sure source of livelihood. At the end of his life, however, his third son has left the land to be a soldier, and his first and second sons callously plan to sell the land and go to the city as soon as Wang dies.
O-Lan, a slave bought by Wang’s father to marry Wang. She works hard in their small field with Wang; during the civil war, she loots in order to get money to buy more land. She dies in middle age of a stomach illness.
Nung En, their oldest son, who, when he covets his...
[The entire page is 752 words long]
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