The Good Earth Character Analysis

Many people and families live through the tragedies of life and work to find out where they lay in their society. In Pearl S Buck’s novel, The Good Earth, Wang Lung and his family embark on the long journey through life. Wang Lung and his family face both times of happiness and peace, and challenges and tragedy. Wang Lung, the main character, rose from poverty into wealth through hard work and luck. He faced many difficult challenges, but overcame them with the help of his family. Many others in this novel worked hard, but none has achieved wealth as he has. In this story, Wang Lung’s life gives detailed examples of the hardships and struggles of living in a lower social class. Then, as the story progresses, the novel tells of the luxuries and customs of being wealthy. Many people can relate to this novel because it shows what life was a wealthy man and as a poor man. Nowadays, people in third world countries or are just common laborers
People may argue that farmers aren’t capable of becoming wealthy, or that this novel gives readers false hope. Although it is unlikely that poor farmers like Wang Lung will become wealthy, it is possible if people believe that they can achieve it. There was once a quote that can be related to this situation, a professor named Randy Pausch once said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” In this situation, the wall can be represented as poverty, and how hard the common people work decided whether they break through the wall into wealth or not. People can decide much of their future based on their actions and their effort while doing