How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #1
Now father and son could rest. There was a woman coming to the house. Never again would Wang Lung have to rise summer and winter at dawn to light the fire. He could lie in his bed and wait, and he also would have a bowl of water brought to him, and if the earth were fruitful there would be tea leaves in the water. (1.8)
Did you know that the Chinese character for peace or tranquility (安) is a woman in a house? Women were in charge of creating a peaceful, efficient, and comfortable home for their families. In The Good Earth, the house certainly is certainly peaceful and tranquil for Wang Lung and his dad. Is it peaceful and tranquil for O-lan?
Quote #2
It would have been beneath him to notice her. Instead he feigned great interest in the clouds and he cried, “That cloud which hangs upon the left horn of the new moon speaks of rain. It will come not later than tomorrow night." (1.152)
This scene shows us the social hierarchy in the house. First there is Grandpa, second there is Wang Lung, and at the bottom there is O-lan. The gap between Grandpa and O-lan is so large that he has to pretend she doesn't even exist.
Quote #3
"The person in my house has told me," he said, "of your interest in my worthless oldest slave creature […] She should be married. She is fifteen years old and for these three or four years could have given birth. I am terrified constantly lest she conceive by some wild dog and bring shame to me and to our name." (7.15)
Whoa, we learn a ton about women's position in society from this quote. Just to be clear, Wang Lung's uncle is talking about his oldest daughter. He uses the words "worthless oldest slave creature," meaning that—you guessed it—women are worthless slaves. Then he says that she probably should have been married at age 11, which would imply that girls were considered women at that age. Last he worries about her virginity, which seems to mean that is the only thing making her kind of worthwhile. It will certainly fetch her a much higher price on the marriage market.
Quote #4
And then he thought of that new mouth come that day into his house and it struck him, with heaviness, that the birth of daughters had begun for him, daughters who do not belong to their parents, but are born and reared for other families. (7.48)
In traditional Chinese culture, boys remained at home with their families even after marriage, whereas girls went to live with their husbands' families. Sometimes, they were almost as good as dead to their own families after marriage. Raising a girl was difficult and stressful, because her parents also had to come up with a good dowry for her. Without a good dowry, she wouldn't be able to make a good match. In some ways, it's no wonder that parents preferred boys.
Quote #5
"Well, but I cannot speak with a woman," objected Wang Lung mildly. He could make nothing of the situation in which he found himself, and he was still staring about him. “Well, and why not?" retorted the woman with anger. (16.54)
Yes! We are not big fans of Cuckoo, but she's the only woman who really stands up for herself against Wang Lung in this novel. Do other women have different, less direct ways of standing up for themselves, or of influencing men? Which method do you think is most effective?
Quote #6
"Now what, woman? Cannot I say comb out your horse's tail of hair without this trouble over it? “But she answered nothing except to say over and over, moaning, “I have borne you sons—I have borne you sons—" […] It was true that before the law he had no complaint against his wife, for she had borne him three good sons and they were alive, and there was no excuse for him except his desire. (20.54)
If O-lan had not given birth to sons, Wang Lung would be legally able to divorce her. He could also divorce her if he thought she was too jealous of Lotus, if she had a disease, or if she gossiped too much. O-lan, on the other hand, would have no legal recourse if she wanted to divorce Wang Lung: that wasn't permitted. What does this legal code tell us about the status of women in this society?
Quote #7
"Where is his market?" asked Wang Lung, although idly, because it was woman's talk and likely to come to nothing. (23.14)
It's funny that Wang Lung thinks this, because all the big things in the novel happen due to the influence women. How does Wang Lung get rich, for example? Oh, yeah: it's O-lan who makes it possible.
Quote #8
All through the long months of winter she lay dying and upon her bed, and for the first time Wang Lung and his children knew what she had been in the house, and how she made comfort for them all and they had not known it. (26.1)
Hey, look: we found the e-card O-lan got for Mother's Day. In this novel, moms are unappreciated, women are unappreciated, and oh man, O-lan is unappreciated x10.
Quote #9
"Well, and you are a foolish child to be forever thinking of this. You have grown fond and too fond of your wife and it is not seemly, for a man ought not to care for his wife that his parents gave him above all else in the world. It is not meet for a man to love his wife with a foolish and overweening love, as though she were a harlot." (28.31)
Everyone knows that wives are there for doing all the housework, right? If you want to love someone, go find a prostitute like everyone else. Er. Um. Wait a minute. What's the definition of love here, again? Maybe the idea is that marriage is hard work and shouldn't be based on puppy love, which pretty much gets in the way of all work. Then again, maybe the idea is that marriage is pretty much a business transaction. What do you think? What is marriage all about in this novel? What about love?
Quote #10
"I desire a maid from a village, of good landed family and without poor relatives, and one who will bring a good dowry with her, neither plain nor fair to look upon, and a good cook, so that even though there are servants in the kitchen she may watch them. And she must be such a one that if she buys rice it will be enough and not a handful over and if she buys cloth the garment will be well cut so that the scraps of cloth left over should lie in the palm of her hand. Such an one I want." (28.61)
So. Big brother wants a hot babe. Younger brother wants... well, younger brother wants someone who will cook, clean, and not spend too much money. What do you think: is one of these better than the other?