How Does Wang Luck Show Honesty In The Good Earth

The novel The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck, takes place in the early 1900s, in pre-revolutionary China. In the novel, the main character, Wang-Lung, sustains his family and land through both favorable and difficult events. During this time period, men were always considered the superior to women and elders the superior to young people. Those who treated women as equal or did not practice filial piety were looked upon with disdain. Most Chinese people believed in Gods that watched over the land and punished dishonorable men. At the beginning of the novel, Wang-Lung was a destitute farmer who faithfully upheld these traditional beliefs. Additionally, he believed in the concept of honesty and diligence. As a result, he eventually became a prosperous man who owned more land than anyone else in the area. This was truly achieved through arduous, honest work. In The Good Earth hard work and virtue are rewarded, while idleness and vice are not.

People that are both diligent and honest in this novel are Wang Lung and O-lan, who are rewarded with happy and successful lives. Wang-Lung was brought up as a farmer, and never attended

This would also boost Wang-Lung’s reputation to a rich man, rather than a poor one. At school, both sons were given nicknames meaning “wealth from the earth”, which fits because Wang Lung started out as a careful, methodical and very persistent farmer that eventually gained wealth from his work. The text states that ¨He would like to have slept, now that he could, but his foolish body, which he had made to arise every morning so early for all these years, would not sleep although it could, and so he lay there, tasting and savoring in his mind and in his flesh his luxury of idleness,¨ which shows that Wang-Lung did not even desire the prosperity of his endeavors, all he wished for was an exceptional