The Good Earth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1931

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-7

Chapters 8-14

Chapters 15-26

Chapters 27-34

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Background

Historical Context: Agrarian China in the Late 19th Century

In writing The Good Earth, Buck intentionally leaves few historical clues that would definitively reveal when the novel takes place. While some reviewers consider her descriptions of events inaccurate because they don’t coincide perfectly with the chronological record of Chinese history, Buck likely wanted to avoid doing this so that the background setting of the story—rural farmers irrevocably connected to the agricultural land—would be universal in nature as opposed to relating exclusively to a specific era. Of the historical hints the author leaves, the advent of locomotives, firearms, and the opium trade imply that these events happen around 1910. However, the siege of Nanking (now Nanjing)—which most reviewers think is the great southern city she describes—occurred 50 years earlier. In estimating the timeframe of the novel, one must remember that the story of Wang Lung covers 50 years. Since the book was first published in 1931, the most logical timeline would be the last 30 years of the 19th century and the first 20 years of the 20th century.

Although the main characters travel to a large city for several months, most of the action takes place in the farmland around a rural village. In the village are merchants of financial means, several teahouses appealing to different clientele, markets, and temples dedicated to different religious persuasions. Buck records the despair of the age in several respects. Overpopulation is an issue. A single missed harvest results in many deaths from starvation. The lack of economic opportunity drives many young men to join a militia or to become part of a gang of thieves like the Red Beards. For women, the situation is particularly dire. Throughout the book, “slave” is the default term for a common woman from birth. The best possible outcome for a common woman, as the theme of The Complete Subjugation of Chinese Women elucidates, was to marry and have a son.

Although Buck describes sweeping changes that slowly filter from metropolitan areas to the agrarian countryside, the culture remains deeply entrenched in traditional customs. Women walk behind the man to whom they belong. A child may not correct a parent or any older male relative. Small hands, tiny feet, and light skin define beauty. A male child is invariably a benefit, while a female child is a burden. The author’s depiction of these customs grants clear insight into this unique world.

Authorial Context: Pearl S. Buck

Buck was born in 1892 in West Virginia, the child of Presbyterian missionaries. Because her parents returned to China when she was five months old, Buck grew up speaking Chinese. Living around Nanking (now Nanjing), she experienced firsthand many of the upheavals she describes in the novel. For instance, her family had to flee the approaching military more than once. The many changes that beset the Chinese people during her youth impacted Buck as well. When she describes the struggles and the mindset of the Chinese commoner, she writes from her personal observations and experience.

Buck’s literary goal in writing The Good Earth is realism. She intends to portray the challenges that would face a couple like Wang Lung and O-lan—and depict how they’d respond to those difficulties. Buck doesn’t qualify the harshness of the farmer’s life, the brutality women experience, or the life-and-death decisions that the characters often face. In addition, she wants to convey the reality of goodness one might encounter from other human beings and from the fertile land.

Buck cared deeply for the common person and was brutally honest in her observations and descriptions, and she certainly knew of the invasive nature of Western culture. She knew that the introduction of Western crops in late 19th-century China impaired the land’s fertility. She knew that Western powers controlled and corrupted Chinese institutions. Her comments on the attitudes and practices of foreigners in the second section of the book reveal the unhelpful, uninformed, and corrosive attitude of Westerners toward the Chinese.

Also noteworthy is that Buck’s description of O-lan is much like a self-portrait. Buck physically resembled O-lan, who is her symbol for the land itself. Like O-lan, Buck was quite intelligent and was often underestimated. O-lan’s first daughter has an intellectual disability; likewise, Buck’s sister Carol, for whom she ended up being largely responsible, had phenylketonuria, which can lead to intellectual disability.

In the book’s second section, Buck describes the words and sentiments of all the characters in the great southern city—to which Wang Lung and his family flee during the drought—but doesn’t editorialize. She simply tells the story without drawing conclusions about solutions to the issues roiling in China. Therefore, it’s interesting that the communist leader in the author’s time, once he firmly gained control of the Chinese mainland, banned Buck and her literature.