I had even called my grandmother during the birth of my second sister, when my mom awoke in heavy labor, my dad was working a graveyard shift as a police officer, and we needed help. I had seen my mother go to the hospital and give birth and not come home for a few days. I can’t imagine having done that, and at the time that I first read this passage, as a young girl, I was in complete awe. She squats, delivers the baby by herself, and then straps it to her back and continues working. I remember one scene vividly in which she gives birth while working in the field. O-Lan’s experiences with motherhood are also compelling to me, especially now, since I’ve had my own children. Stories like O-Lan’s create a sense of gratitude in me for those women, not just because I am not oppressed as they were, but because they paved the way for me to have the freedoms and equalities that I do have. So many women in the annals of history suffered and toiled in ways that I cannot comprehend.

Her experiences remind me of how blessed and lucky I am to live in the country and era that I do. Yes, it is her lot in life and she has no other choices, but she is strong and admirable in these conditions. As his riches (and his pride) grow, so does her oppression and the disregard he shows to her. She must endure difficulties because of Wang Lung and because of her gender. I was fascinated by the importance of the land to Wang Lung and how this pursuit of land affected his family and his status.Īlthough Wang Lung’s ambition and success is compelling, his wife O-Lan is the more sympathetic character. It was my first introduction to a novel that explored the human condition in another culture. I think I loved The Good Earth because of its simple, straightforward prose, yet it’s exploration of complicated issues.

It remained my favorite book for many years, until I discovered Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. Buck’s Pulitzer Prize–winning The Good Earth (1931) was my favorite book. That quote is on the cover of my seventh grade English portfolio because, at that time, Pearl S.

“And Wang Lung, hearing this, felt his mouth suddenly dry and parched and his voice came from him in a whisper, ‘Silver, then! Silver and gold! Anything to the very price of my land!’” (p.

The good earth book