The Good Earth Quiz

1. So far in this novel, Wang Lung's uncle is my least favorite character. He is a dishonest man who steals and gambles. The first time he comes to Wang Lung for the money, he keeps begging until he blackmails Wang Lung when he says he'll tell everyone in the village that cold rude man. His uncle keeps on coming and asking for more until eventually they have nothing but the land and their house.

2. Partly because of his uncle, and partly because of possible starvation, Wang Lung decides to take his family to one of the southern cities. They ride on a train, which they call a firewagon, and make it to the south city. Once there, Wang Lung is like a fish out of water. He doesn't know how to make a house out of mat, he doesn't know how their money works, and he doesn't know how to make a living. His wife knows how to beg, and Wang Lung learns to pull rickshaws. One thing I noticed was after their first day in the city, Wang Lung's son wouldn't let of the money he earned be begging. I think this might be a foreshadowing that if Wang Lung becomes rich, his son will be like one of the sons in the House of Hwang and run around doing whatever he wishes.

The Good Earth

The power that people have in this novel revolve around two things, wealth and what sex you are. Wang Lung is a poor farmer from a small village, and has just as much power as anybody else in his village who are also mostly farmers. However, when he goes to the city for his bride, he loses what little power he has and becomes just another farmer because he is so poor. When he goes to the tea shop before he visits the House of Hwang, he is treated with greater respect because he was the richest one there, and thus had more power. The author demonstrates this when the beggar comes up to him for money. Wang Lung had never been the rich person before and was startled that he was being asked for money. He decided to give him money, but probably so he could feel what being rich was like. When he meets the old lady in the House of Hwang, even though she is a woman she still has more money than him and has more power. The only person that Wang Lung has control over would be his wife, because she is poorer than him and is a woman which makes her nothing more than property to Wang Lung.

A Jury of Her Peers Response

I believe that there are many reasons as to why Mrs. Wright killed Mr. Wright by strangling instead of using a gun against him, the biggest being that she wanted to punish him. If this story is taking place in the early 1900's, then most people being executed were probably done so by hanging. Mrs. Wright probably decided to strangle him as a way of punishing him after 20 years of being forced to live under him. He also took away the two things she loved the most, singing and her canary. When Mrs. Wright was younger she was one of the church choir members and loved to sing. Once she married Mr. Wright he prevented her from singing and she had to find another thing to replace it, which she found in the canary. She loved her canary and then Mr. Wright strangled it. This was probably the final straw for Mrs. Wright who would have wanted to kill her husband, but in a way that would make Mr. Wright regret killing her bird. Since the canary was what pushed her over the edge, killing Mr. Wright the same way he had killed her bird would have been satisfying to Mr. Wright instead of just using a gun and pulling a trigger.