With the eldest son gone, Wang Lung feels greatly relieved, as if “the house was purged of some surcharge of unrest.” After the experience with the eldest son, Wang Lung resolves to quickly take the second son out of school and to apprentice him to a trade. To the relief […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 25-26Summary and Analysis Chapters 22-24
After Wang Lung has somewhat abated his infatuation for Lotus Flower, he is able to return to the land and is “healed of his sickness of love by the good dark earth . . . soft as black sugar . . . and the health of the earth spread into […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 22-24Summary and Analysis Chapters 20-21
These two chapters continue with the love that possesses Wang Lung. It is, however, modified by the arrival of Wang Lung’s uncle. In China, where ancestor worship is the main type of worship, Wang Lung resents his uncle and his uncle’s intrusion, but he knows also that “it is a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 20-21Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-19
These chapters are marked by the coming of the flood waters after seven years of good harvests. During these seven years, Wang Lung’s fortunes have increased, and when, in the seventh year, a great flood covered most of his land, Wang Lung had stocked enough to not be adversely affected […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-19Summary and Analysis Chapters 13-17
With the money which Wang Lung opportunistically received, he immediately makes plans to return to his “good earth” as soon as possible. He buys good seed from the south, even seeds which he has never planted before — such seeds as celery, lotus, and “fragrant red beans.” He is so […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 13-17Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-14
Chapter 12 presents the difficulties which Wang Lung and his family have in adjusting to the new and different ways in this southern city. Among the difficulties is a language barrier. This city speaks in a dialect which makes it extremely difficult for Wang Lung to understand it. He feels […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-14Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11
The first sentence of Chapter 10 emphasizes the relationship between Wang Lung and the land. He can leave his house in order to go south and do no more than “pull the door right upon its wooden hinges and fasten the iron hasp.” And in Chapter 15, when he returns, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11Summary and Analysis Chapters 7-9
In this section, Wang Lung and his family are plagued with bad luck which overshadows even the good fortune of the preceding section. In Chapter 7, Wang Lung’s uncle begins to be the “trouble which Wang Lung had surmised from the beginning that he might be.” Throughout this section, the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 7-9Summary and Analysis Chapters 3-6
At the end of Chapter 2, O-lan announced that she was “with child.” Beginning with Chapter 3, Wang Lung immediately begins to assume that the child will be a “man child.” As we are soon to learn, a girl child was considered a burden, if not a disgrace, whereas a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 3-6Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-2
In these first two chapters, we are immediately introduced to the main theme of the novel — our basic relationship with the earth and how we gain strength and sustenance from it. Wang Lung, the central character of the novel, feels a deep respect for the earth. We discover that […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-2