The Good Earth: Chapter 1

In the first chapter of The Good Earth, the author explains how some people are okay with humiliation and poverty. Wang Lung lives in a poor world. His father only thinks about wasting crucial supplies such as water and tea. On the day of his wedding, Wang Lung takes a bath, washing himself all at once; his father is ashamed at his son's idea and argues. The son says that the water will not go to waste, but will end up on the fields. If one cannot take a bath without getting criticized for it, it proves that there is the idea of poverty. When Wang Lung pours his father tea, it is cold, so he gets more water. "Why are you wasteful? Tea is like eating silver." (p.4) Although the family are farmers, and are poor, they still get by; he bargains with barbers, and gets enough food for the wedding celebration. Wang Lung does not live in total poverty, but is pretty close.

When Wang Lung goes to the Hwang house, he experiences humiliation, and right of the bat is out of his comfort zone-- he doesn't know what to say, if anyone else should be there with him, or what to bring. At this house, women are handed out like candy; if a poor man needs a wife, he gets a former slave, and if a rich man needs a wife, he gets a pretty wife. It would be scary to be handed out like that, to go home to a poor man, who you are expected to give sons. As O-lan is introduced to Wang Lung, the master at the house says-- with no care in the world that the woman is right next to her-- that she isn't pretty-- he doesn't need a pretty wife, all she will want is clothes and shoes which he cannot afford-- she isn't smart, and isn't clever. Once the new, awkward couple gets home, Wang Lung asks his new wife if she knows how to do the daily chores such as cook and clean, and she responds yes. The new married couple are just learning about each other for the first time. O-lan seems to be intimidated by all men; she later told Wang Lung that she will not hand out the food because she doesn't want to be seen in front of the men. The ways of life and beliefs in early China are very different from what we live in today. Now, weddings are one of the biggest celebrations, and in this story a wedding is just another normal day.