Often in society, an upsurge in wealth, power and prestige is accompanied by an upsurge in arrogance, and egotism. In prerevolutionary China, wealth is perceived as one of the more important ideals in society, and it is something that multitudes of people get caught up in. The cliché, “wealth does not equal happiness”, is often ignored, and money, social class, and power are the only things people associate with success. Through reading The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck, one may find a major theme that is present throughout the novel, is that wealth could erode traditional values. This is proven by Wang Lung’s experiences in the novel, for as he grew in prestige and wealth, his original values, such as his ardent attachment to the land, his …show more content…
Once Wang Lung’s increase in wealth and power commenced, nothing was ever good enough for him. At the beginning of the novel, Wang Lung was much more self-sufficient, making his money off the land and that being enough. So when O-Lan stole the pearls from the House of Hwang, Wang Lung felt mortified, and ashamed. He states, “If anyone knew of this we should be dead by the next day and a robber would carry the jewel. They must be put into the land this very day or I shall not sleep tonight”(Buck 145). This demeanor quickly changes as Wang Lung gets a taste of wealth, and quickly goes from only using the stolen jewels as means to survival, to using every opportunity he gets to spend money without care, to give himself immediate gratification. No drink is enough in quantity and quality for Wang Lung, no woman is good enough for him, there is never enough land. Wang Lung had completely lost touch, and embarrassed his family, in efforts to do nothing more than fulfill his every …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, Wang Lung was a commonsensical, proud and humble man. He lived and died by the earth. As he put it, “Land is ones flesh and blood”(Buck 52). However, when Wang Lung’s prestige grew along with his wealth, his dependence on the land became increasingly less imperative, and so, he lost his connectedness to the land. The sole thing that defined his life, he had completely abandoned as a sheer result of success! So much so, that his own kids see no importance to the land, and instead of caring for it, they wish to sell it.
‘Now, evil, idle sons-sell the land!...It is the end of a family-when they begin to sell the land… Out of the land we came and into it we must go-and if you will hold your land you can live-no one can rob you of land…If you sell the land, it is the end.’ (Buck