Wealth and Poverty in the Good Earth

Wealth is No Better than Poverty

The meaning of wealth is not any stronger than poverty. Both poverty and wealth can come with terrible consequences. The idea of wealth and status and poverty loom large in The Good Earth. With wealth comes selfishness and ungraciousness. With poverty comes starvation and needy. In the Novel The Good Earth Wang Lung a farmer or laborer goes from being poor to rich in just a short while. The author of this novel Pearl S. Buck describes how Wang Lung's family endures life. With wealth as a curse, and poverty as a blessing, finding oneself between the two can really impact the character's different choices.

Cursed with wealth, characters become very barbaric. Wealth can bring many great things, but in the novel The Good Earth, many characters, are selfish and greedy. In this novel Wang Lung, the main character who now owns two great houses says, "Give them to me, I have need of them" (Buck 186). This quote from Wang Lung describes how he has become overly greedy and mercenary. He does not want Olan, Wang Lungs wife that he has ignored and abandoned, to have her fragile pearls anymore. He decides that he will instead give them to Lotus, who is his new slave or mistress in the house. Also in this novel, the author Pearl S. Buck shows Wang Lung being cavalier with his money. An example of Wang Lung being wasteful is when the author describes, "Now the money, the good silver, went streaming out of his hands" (184). This quote interprets how Wang Lung forgets about what is right and wastes his money. Having wealth in this family is not as upright as before.

Poverty can be prodigious for the Lung family. While the Lung family is needy, they act greatly to each other. They are also quite nice to others as well. An honest example is, "Wang Lung went to the market and bought fifty eggs, not new laid but still well enough and costing a penny for one" (167). Wang Lung does not have a copious amount of money but he still buys many eggs for his neighbors. This truly shows how nice Wang Lung can be even though he is not rich. Throughout this novel the Lung family has to deal with unhealthy conditions. The author describes, "When it was finished they went within and with one mat she had contrived not to use they made a floor and sat down and were sheltered" (97). This is an example of how the Lung family gave up all their items for others and then had to move south and buy these mats to make a hut. Also, this shows that the Lung family did not have a lot of money but still found a way to be supportive. Doing this is just another example of how poverty can be a blessing for a character.

After finding oneself between wealth and poverty, the two can really impact one character and his or her choice. When Wang Lung was a middle class citizen or commoner he was clement. The author describes him as a commoner