Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- How would the novel be different if we could see O-lan's thoughts and emotions instead of Wang Lung's? What if the novel were written in third-person omniscient point of view instead of third-person limited?
- Why do you think Buck has decided to write this story as a trilogy? What do you imagine will happen in the second book, Sons, and the third book, A House Divided?
- How does Buck's use of language manage to feel foreign, even though she only uses English words? Would using Chinese words change the feeling of the story? How?
- Buck loves to compare moments of the characters' lives with seasons. Does the novel have a winter, spring, summer, and fall? If so, what are they?
- What roles do luck, heavenly favors, and hard work, play in the novel? What does Wang Lung believe about them? What do the other characters believe?