How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #7
And she said, "It is useless for you to beat the lad as you do. 1 have seen this thing come upon the young lords in the courts of the great house, and it came on them melancholy, and when it came the Old Lord found slaves for them if they had not found any for themselves and the thing passed easily." (22.42)
When you're poor, you're too busy and tired to become melancholic. It's kind of like how you can never find anything good on TV when you have 5000 channels, but the three channels you had as a kid were the most awesome in the world.
Quote #8
"Now that old man in heaven will enjoy himself, for he will look down and see people drowned and starving and that is what the accursed one likes.” This he said loudly and angrily so that Ching shivered and said, “Even so, he is greater than anyone of us and do not talk so, my master.” But since he was rich Wang Lung was careless, and he was as angry as he liked and he muttered as he walked homeward to think of the water swelling up over his land and over his good crops. (27.10)
As we mentioned in our discussion of the "Religion" theme, rich people don't need the gods' help, but the poor do. Well, at least that's what the rich people think. Does their neglect of the gods contribute to their unhappiness? If the gods are a metaphor for the earth and for the cycle of life, does this mean that rich people's neglect of the earth contributes to their ultimate misfortune?
Quote #9
And he, thinking constantly of the child to come and of others to come from his sons when they were all wed, bought five slaves, two about twelve years of age with big feet and strong bodies, and two younger to wait upon them all and fetch and carry, and one to wait on the person of Lotus, for Cuckoo grew old and since the second girl was gone there had been none other to work in the house. And the five he bought in one day, for he was a man rich enough to do quickly what he decided upon. (28.17)
When he was poor, Wang Lung took a long time to decide anything. If he made a mistake, it could cost him everything, so he had to be careful. Now that he's rich, Wang Lung can make decisions quickly, because even if he makes a mistake, he'll still have money left over. Does this make him less responsible? Less conscientious? What are the broader consequences of these decisions?