FREE ESSAY ON GOOD EARTH

GOOD EARTH

Taoists often use anecdotes to describe and present lessons of life. For example, The
Missing Axe teaches that people see only what they want to see. Another important Taoist
story, The Lost Horse, proves the falseness of first impressions. Similarly, Pearl Buck
expresses this idea of false impressions in The Good Earth. When Wang Lung makes
judgments about other characters throughout the novel, Buck shows how one's first
impressions of others can be wrong. 
One of Wang Lung's first impressions of O-lan is that she is worthless, but after their
marriage, O-lan proves his judgment to be incorrect. When he first meets her in the House
of Hwang, he immediately receives a negative impression when he "saw with an instant's
disappointment that her feet were not bound" (13). This negative impact increases when he
does not find "beauty of any kind in her face" (14). Judging only on her physical
appearance, Wang Lung incorrectly decides that she will play an unimportant role in his
life. Despite Wang Lung's negative impressions of her, O-lan turns out to be one of the
most helpful people in his life. Without her, Wang Lung would not survive through the
hardships of the drought nor the move to the South. He would not have had sons carry on
his name after his death. In spite of the fact that women were considered inferior to
men, Wang Lung later realizes the important role she played in his life, causing him to
weep at her funeral. By the way Wang Lung changes the way he sees her, O-lan displays how
first impressions one receives from another can be contrary to their true self.
Where the Poor Fool is born, she is called "an evil omen" (47), but in the later years of
Wang Lung's life, he values her. Since the Confucian philosophy of men being superior to
women dominates his society, Wang Lung considers the Poor Fool's birth a disgrace, and
did not even "stop to see the face of this small, new creature" (46). As years pass by
and as Wang Lung ages, he realizes his negative impression of the Poor Fool at her birth
were wrong. He finds out that instead of being a disgrace, he finds great pleasure in
spending time with her and Pear Blossom and "he wished only to sit in his court near
these two" (255). 
Like Poor Fool, Pear Blossom proves Wang Lung's belief of her being useless, incorrect.
When Pear Blossom's father offers her as a slave for Wang Lung, he is reluctant to buy
her for she appears to be a "delicate maid" that is "small and weak" (205) and not likely
to do much work. For the same reasons, Lotus favors her. To avoid an argument with Lotus,
Wang Lung unwillingly buys her. As years pass, their love for each other increases and
grows into the love between father and daughter. She becomes the closest person Wang Lung
has and "it was a comfort to him now when he saw Pear Blossom was faithful" (253). Wang
Lung's initial impression of Pear Blossom proves false when she provides company during
later years and eliminates his worries for Poor Fool. This change from seeing both the
Poor Fool and Pear Blossom negatively to growing fond of them, once again shows that
first impressions are not reliable.
Pearl Buck successfully conveys the theme that one's first impressions can be incorrect.
Not only does this lesson apply to Wang Lung's life but that this concept is relevant to
us, for we may miss the opportunity to meet friends. Like the American saying, "Don't
judge a book by its cover," people should not jump to conclusions and decide whether
people are bad or good from first impressions.