A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
JIZANIWATI
STUDENT NUMBER: 981214094
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTEMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
PAGE OF TITLE ……… i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ……….. ii
PAGE OF BOARD EXAMINERS ……….. iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……….. iv
PAGES OF DEDICATION ………. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vii
ABSTRACT ……….. x
ABSTRAK ……… xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ……….…… 1
1.2 Objective of the Study ………. 4
1.3 Problem Formulation ……… 4
1.4 Benefit of the Study ………. 4
1.5 Definition of Terms ………. 5
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Theoretical Review ……… 7
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approaches in Literary Works ………… 7
2.1.2 The Theories of Motivation ……… 9
2.1.3 Human Personality ………. 11
2.2 The Chinese Culture ……….. 13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Subject Matter ……….. 20
3.2 Approaches ……….. 20
3.3 Procedure ……….. 21
CHAPTER 4: THE ANALYSIS 4.1 The Analysis of the Characters ………. 23
4.1.1 The Main Character (Wang Lung) ……… 23
4.1.2 The Secondary Characters ……… 33
4.1.2.1 O-Lan ………. 33
4.1.2.2 Lotus ………. 35
4.1.2.3 Pear Blossom ………. 36
4.1.2.4 Wang Lung’s Father ………. 37
4.1.2.5 Wang Lung’s Uncle ……… 38
4.2 The Analysis of the Setting ……….. 39
4.2.1 The Setting of Time ……….. 39
4.2.2 The Setting of Place ………. 41
4.3 The Chinese Society’s toward Concubinage between the End of the 19th and the Early 20th Century ……….. 42
4.4 Wang Lung’s Motivation as the Main Character in Practicing Concubinage ………. 46
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions ………. 51
5.2 Suggestions ……….. 55
5.2.1 Suggestions for Future Researchers ………. 55
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………. 62
APPENDICES Appendix 1. The Summary of The Good Earth ……… 64
Appendix 2. The Works of Pearl S. Buck ……… 70
Appendix 3. The Life of Pearl S. Buck ………. 72
Novel The Good Earth. Yogyakarta: English Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses The Good Earth, a novel written by Pearl S. Buck. In this novel, Pearl S. Buck talks about Chinese social lives. There are two problem formulations in this study, (1) How is concubinage viewed in Chinese society between the end of the ninetieth century and the early twentieth century as depicted in the novel, (2) What factors motivate Wang Lung as the Main character in practicing concubinage. The aims of the study can be achieved by finding out the characterization of the characters, the Chinese society’s view toward concubinage between the end of ninetieth century and the early twentieth century as depicted in the novel, and the main character’s motivation in practicing concubinage.
There are two kinds of sources used in the study. The primary source, which is obtained from the novel The Good Earth, and the secondary sources are obtained from some books on psychology, some books on literature concerning the sociocultural lives in China, especially between the end of the ninetieth century and the early twentieth century. The writer uses the theory of motivation and human personality to conduct this study. To gain the information about Chinese social lives, the writer uses the sociocultural historical approach and psychological approach.
Based on the analysis by answering the problem formulations, the writer draws three conclusion. First, as the answer of the first problem formulation that most of the characters in the novel support their society’s view toward concubinage. They said that it was all right to a concubine(s) since they were able to fulfill all their needs.
Secondly, concubinage was one of many symbols of wealthy. It was known that at that time, men were more dominant than women. They tend to do everything they want includes practicing concubinage. Regardless his first wife, they hold a concubine(s) which mostly for sexual pleasure. Women, as the matter of fact, have no right to forbid his husband in holding a concubine(s).
Novel The Good Earth. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini membahas The Good Earth, sebuah novel karya Pearl S. Buck. Dalam novel ini, Pearl S. Buck membahas tentang kehidupan sosial orang – orang Cina. Dalam studi ini ada dua rumusan masalah, (1) Bagaimana perseliran dilihat dfalam kehidupan sosial Cina antara akhir abad ke-19 dan awal abad ke-20, (2) Faktor apa yang mendorong Wang Lung sebagai tokoh utama dalam mempraktikan perseliran. Tujuan dari studi ini dapat dicapai dengan mengetahui bagaimana karakterisasi tokoh – tokoh dalam novel tersebut, pandangan masyarakat Cina terhadap perseliran antara akhir abad kesembilan belas dan awal abad kedua puluh seperti yang tergambar dalam novel, dan motivasi tokoh utama dalam mempraktikan perseliran.
Ada dua macam sumber yang digunakan dalam studi ini, yaitu sumber utama yang didapat dari novel itu sendiri, The Good Earth, dan sumber – sumber pendukung yakni beberapa buku tentang tulisan – tulisan yang yang berhubungan dengan kehidupan sosial budaya masyarakat Cina antara akhir abad kesembilan belas dan awal abad kedua puluh dan buku – buku tentang psikologi. Penulis menggunakan teori motivasi dan teori kepribadian (watak) manusia dalam pelaksanaan studi ini. Untuk mendapatkan informasi – informasi tentang kehidupan sosial orang – orang Cina, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosiokultural-historis dan pendekatan psikologi.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menarik tiga kasimpulan. Pertama, dengan menjawab rumusan masalah yang pertama, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa kebanyakan tokoh dalam novel ini merupakan pencerminan dari masyarakat Cina antara akhir abad kesembilan belas dan awal abad kedua puluh yang mendukung pandangan masyarakat terhadap perseliran.
Kedua, perseliran merupakan salah satu dari beberapa simbol dari kekayaan. Hal ini sudah dikenal bahwa pada saat itu, laki – laki lebih dominan daripada perempuan. Mereka cenderung melakukan apa saja yang mereka inginkan termasuk mempraktikan perseliran. Tanpa mengindahkan istri pertamanya, kebanyakan dari mereka mengambil seorang selir atau lebih hanya untuk kepuasan seksual saja. Perempuan, pada kenyataannya, tidak punya hak untuk melarang suaminya dalam mengambil seorang selir atau lebih.
This chapter consists of the Background of the Study, the Objectives of the Study, the Problem Formulation, the Benefit of the Study and the Definition of Terms. The Background of the Study is focused on the study, the need of analyzing the topic and my personal reason of choosing the topic. The Objectives of the Study explain the goal of the study. Then the Problem Formulation gives the general description of the problem that will be analyzed. The Benefit of the Study gives the explanation of who can get the benefit from the study. The last part is the Definition of Terms. In this part, some terms that are related to the study will be defined.
1. 1 Background of the Study
Nowadays, we can find a lot of literary works, such as poems, prose, novels, and drama. We can learn and get many things from them. As Moody (1971:71) states:
Literature present the readers with a wide range of situations and predicaments, which seem to stimulate some kind of emotional response; and also that, on the whole, the writers of literature present those situations in ways which enable the readers to explore and develop their feelings in an appropriate human way.
can help us in understanding the human problems, such as sadness, anger, disappointments, and difficulties. Many literary works can be considered as good subjects. They can be judged through its content or meaning toward human life. It means that there must be some values in literary works, regardless of the fact that they are high or low value.
In this thesis I choose a novel, written by Pearl S Buck, The Good Earth , to be analyzed. This is her second novel. This novel won The Pulitzer Prize in 1932. This is dramatized in that year. This novel is a best seller for almost two years, and translated into over thirty languages. Buck wrote this novel on her way together with her family to North China which was used for the setting of this novel. I choose The Good Earth because it is very interesting. This novel talks about peasant’s lives. From the title itself, we can see that the story probably talks about something related to earth.
Besides, I am interested in her ways of telling the readers about Chinese cultures and their daily lives. In her novel, she tells us clearly about Chinese cultures and their daily lives such as their belief in Gods and Goddesses, foot binding, concubinage, and slavery. To be more particular, in this study I will discuss concubinage, as it is a very common issue in China which happened at the time when the story happens, between the last of 19th century and the early of 20th century.
concubinage. It is all because they do not enough money even for eat although actually they also want to. We can see it from the characters in the novel, The Master in the House of Hwang and Wang Lung. As the story tells, The Master of the House of Hwang has a lot of concubines and it is not strange for people around there. It is very common to take concubines as long as we have enough money or authority. It seems that at that time concubinage is a reflection of the inherent inferiority of woman to men. Another character is Wang Lung. When he was in the lower class, he used to have only a wife, O Lan. He never thought of having even a concubine. However, as the time goes by, he becomes richer and richer. He starts to do what people in the high class do usually, included having concubines although he never imagines that before. Those are examples of phenomenon of having concubines which can be seen from the novel. Hopefully, it can help the reader in understanding the topic which will be discussed.
possess a concubine or concubines pervades Chinese society as they were symbols of status and prosperity (1948: 65-67).
1. 2 Objectives of the Study
This study is conducted to help the readers who want to know more about the cultural values of the Chinese as viewed in the novel which happened between the 19th century and the early 20th century. Here, I will explore the analysis of the Chinese culture’s view toward concubinage in that age. I will also describe the main character’s (Wang Lung) motivation in practicing concubinage.
1. 3 Problem Formulation
Based on the background above, the problems of this study are formulated as follows :
1. How is concubinage viewed in Chinese society between the end of ninetieth century and the early twentieth century as depicted in the novel ?
2. What factors motivate Wang Lung as the main character in practicing concubinage ?
1. 4 Benefit of the Study
Buck’s novel, since this study talks about or reveals her idea or perspective toward Chinese culture, particularly, concubinage. It is commonly known that Buck’s works are mostly related to Chinese culture such as her novels The Mother, Pavilion of Woman, and East Wind West Wind.
Through this study, I would like to help the reader to learn something valuable toward their life from the messages in the novel since there are a lot of social problems appeal in this life.
1. 5 Definition of Terms
To assist the readers to follow this thesis clearly, I would like to define some definitions as follows :
a. Concubine
As Webster (1993: 31) states, concubine is meant as a person whom a man cohabits without being married. It can be meant as secondary wife. It has a lower status than a wife in a household. In this study, I will discuss Wang Lung’s concubines, they are Pear Blossom and Lotus. As I know that it is a common thing of taking a concubine (s) in China at the time when the story happened, between the late of 19th century and the early of 20th century.
b. Concubinage
c. Culture
This chapter consists of three parts. The first is the Theoretical Review which consists of some theories used in analyzing the novel. The second part is the Chinese Cultures. In this part, I explore the Chinese culture includes the Chinese community and the Chinese family life. Then in the last part I will discuss the criticism toward Pearl S. Buck and her novel.
2.1 Theoretical Review
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approaches in Literary Works
According to Rohberger and Woods (1987: 3), a critical approach to literature necessities an understanding of its function, values, and nature. Here, the readers must know what literature is, how to read it, and finally how to judge it. Rohberger and Woods in their book, Reading and Writing About Literature
(1987:6-15), state that there are five critical approaches in literature works.
The first is the formalist approach. This critics insists on the total integrity of the literary piece. It concentrates almost on its esthetics value, so they are concern with demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all parts of the novel and also with pointing out how meaning is derived from structures and how matters of technique determines structure.
the author to an understanding of the literary object (1987:8). This approach gives us awareness that what the author writes in their work of art is a reflection of their personality. The readers try to learn as much as they can about the life and development of the author and to apply this knowledge in understanding the author’s work. What the author thinks and feels can be reflected through the literary work.
The third approach is the sociocultural – historical approach. According to Rohberger and Woods, the social historical approach insists that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produce it (1987: 9). Here, they define civilization as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and point out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter. It means that the literary works is created in the society. There is a possibility that different societies and different cultures can produce different types of literary works.
The next approach is the mythopoeic approach. Rohgberger and Woods state that this approach seeks to discover a certain universally recurrent pattern of human thought, which they believe will find an expression in significant works of art (1948: 11). These universally recurrent patterns are those that found the first expression in the ancient myths and folks rites. They are so basic to human thought that they have meaning for all men.
the psychological theory. This approach is usually used to account briefly for the misunderstanding of psychological criticism, to outline the psychological theory which is used commonly as an interpretive tool by modern critics, also to show the reader how to apply this approach to enhance their understanding.
2.1.2 The Theories of Motivation
According to Kalish (1972: 29), a motivation behavior is a behavior set into motion by a need. From this statement we may say that a need indicates that some types of satisfaction is lacking and implies that the organism is activated to reduce the dissatisfaction. The need for money means that the person feels he lacks of money and it sets into motion to seek money. It also happens in the needs of affection, and prestige.
Richard, Elisabeth and Robert (1985: 54) state that:
To understand the way a person’s behavior is organized, we must infer that behavior is guided by some purpose and that it leads to some end state, which may be a goal or the satisfaction of some need. This dynamic property of behavior that gives it organization over time and that defines its end states is called motivation.
From that statement, we may say that motivation comes from within ourselves. It is related to the purpose of the thing or behavior that we are going to do. In doing something, we are usually motivated by something. For example, we decide to apply a vacancy in a newspaper because we are motivated to get money.
disequilibrium within human. This theory is based on the needs, which occur within humans. People usually do something because they need it. If they do not really need it, they tend to do it unseriously. For example, if we are really hungry, we try to get some food to make us full. So, what people do or behave reflect their needs.
Learning about human’s need, there are some theory of needs that can determine human’s motivation according to Maslow:
1.Psychological Need
They are biological needs such as water, food, oxygen, warmth, etc. These needs are the strongest because if deprived, one could or would die.
2.Safety Need
They are felt by adult during emergencies, periods of disorganization in the social structure. They are felt more frequently by children who often display signs of insecurity and their need to be safe.
3. Love, Affection and Belonging Needs
The needs to escape loneliness and gives (also receive) love, affection, and the sense of belonging.
4. Esteem Need
5. Self-actualization Need
Maslow describes this need as an ongoing process. Self-actualizing people are involved in a cause outside their own skin. They are devoted, work at something, something very precious to them (
http://www
. connect.net/georeon/maslow. htm, accesed on March 22,2003 at 9.00pm).The second one is the social learning theory. Atkinson and Hilgard (1983: 320) state that our behavior is learned through interaction with and observation of the environment. The important part that influences our behavior is the environment or circumstance we live rather than instinct. Furthermore they also say, vicarious learning is learning by observation. The patterns of behavior are learned by observing the other people’s behavior and also by learning the reinforcement. For example, a child will be afraid to go to a doctor because he or she watched a person suffering from pain after being injected by the doctor.
2.1.3 Human Personality
Human personalities concern with one does, thinks, and feels about everything related to their attitudes in everyday life. Every individual has his or her own personality. The uniqueness of personality makes an individual differ from each other. Byrne and Kelley (1981:87) consider one’s personality as a dynamic process so it can change throughout one’s life. So, personality is changeable, meaning that it changes hand in hand with the running of time.
within or outside his home. So, the condition of the environment also determines human personality. Sullivian (1981:64), an American psychiatrist, views personality as a verbal abstraction and believes that human behavior is determined largely by interpersonal interactions. This means that individual will learn to behave as a result of interactions with people. What people do sometimes affected by others. Although we are actually a silent one, but we always get along with talk active people, it is a big possibility that we can be a talk active one. We may learn how to be talk active from the interaction we make.
from during the early months of live. It is the raw images and feeling that flow through one’s mind posses no meaning for the experiencing person (1963: 1940). While parataxic mode of thinking consists of seeing causal relationship between events that occur at about the same time but which are not logically related. The experiences and images may be unrealistic but the meaning is very real to the individual. The last mode is syntaxic modes. It is reached when one learns to perceive as others do and to share their beliefs, language and explanation. This mode produces logical order among experiences and enables people to communicate with one another (1963: 141).
2.1.4. The Theory of Setting.
The element of fiction which reveal to us the where and when of the events called setting (Kenney, 1966: 38). Setting is always important for the work of a novel, since it helps to set the tone and helps to realize both characters and plot (Beaty and Hunter, 1989: 111). According to Abrams (1979: 157) defines setting as the general locale, historical time and social circumstances in which its action occurs:; the setting of an episode or scene within a work is particular physical location in which it takes place. It is also important in affecting action and characters as Murphy writes and way of thinking of the characters (1972: 41).
objectification of the internal states of the character’s or of the persuasive spiritual condition.
Second, the use of setting to create atmosphere. Atmosphere is described as the air breathed by the reader when he enters the world of the story. The setting suggests a kind of mood or emotional aura and it helps to establish the reader expectation.
The last function is the use of setting as the dominant element. There are two kinds of dominant element, time and place. Time as dominant element means the time in the story takes the most important part as Kenney writes the time in which the action occurs is of the highest importance. Place as dominant element meanss that it is the place which takes the greatest importance most the story. As Kenney writes the place in which the action occurs is of the highest importance. The geographical setting has a great influence to the character.
2.2 The Chinese Culture
2.2.1 Chinese Community
Hsu in his book Under The Ancestor’s Shadow (1948:30) writes that the life in Chinese community is full of rituals. Starting from their birthday until their death, Chinese people have to obey the ritual and tradition in their religion properly. To be more particular, here I will discuss some custom especially which are related to marriage and concubinage.
1. Marriage and Betrothal
young betrothed couple. The parents tend to betroth their children to those whose backgrounds are already known well. They hope that their children will get a good mate. Usually the man’s family is very selective in choosing the mate, because there are some kinds of marital tradition that have to be obeyed, such as there are only two marriage are permitted between two clans, then the mate must not from the same clan.
2. An Ideal Marriage
It is called an ideal marriage if both of the families are already known each other well. If the marriage happens between two families which do not know each other, they need a go-between to arrange the matters. The go-between usually a woman (sometimes a man) who knows about both of the families. She must carry the proposal to the girl’s family and ask for the girl and the boy about all the things needed, such as the year, month, and date of their birth. Based on the conclusion taken, she will decide whether the boy and the girl are suited to each other.
3. Remarriage
4. Concubinage.
Since in China a man has a bigger right or authority than a woman, it causes a lot of effects. One of them is that it is a common thing for a man to take concubine(s). Not only for those who are superior in status but also who are in the middle class do that. Only for those who are in the lower class do not do that. It is all because they do not have enough money even for food although they actually also want to do so. The origin for a male to hold a concubine is for sexual pleasure since any children that resulted from a concubine is considered illegitimate. Unless allowed by their father, they have no right of inheritance. Usually a concubine has a lower status than a wife in the household. This phenomenon of having a concubine(s) is affected by the fact in China that women have the lowest places in the family. It is quite common for the poor to sell a daughter to a rich man to be a concubine to get money to take care of the rest of the family.
2.2.2. The Chinese Family Life
China, as one of the oldest countries in the world, has been ruled over by many dynasties that fall and rise one to another for millennia as other nations do. However, the most interesting fact that is found by Francis L K Hsu his study on Chinese families. It was funny fact that the Chinese families do just the same as their rulers do.
for children and married couples, the two sexes are generally separated. Fourth, the members of each individual family within the household usually occupy rooms in same wing or in two wings adjacent to each other. The characteristic of the dwellings shows that the division of rooms for each family is determined by rules of social appropriateness, not by considerations of personal preference, comfort or hygiene ( Hsu, 1948:56-57).
The usual contains in a Chinese family are usually more than just parents and children. Chinese people like to group their clan in one place as possible as it is and it is a sin to abandon their olds. So, a house may contain of some families living together under the same roof. A wealthy family with long lineage of generations maybe has a clan village to keep their land in the hands of the same bloodline forever.
The most important relationship is father and son relationship. The father has authority of life and death over the son, and the son has revere and support his parents as long as their life and (even) after their death. A father or a mother can command his son everything he wants them to do. Then, as a filial and dutiful son, the son (and daughters) must obey him / her. When the father dies, the mother will take the responsibility of the household and the rights over her children as well as the new head of the family.
lets them hungry, will have no respectable place in eyes of society. The relationship is much better described by the literary saying: The father is kind toward his son, and the son filial toward his father (Hsu, 1948: 65)
A man will have their right and place in society as soon as the change of his role from a son to a father, especially, of course, a son’s father. When this time comes, the father should hand the family business upon his eldest son s the next head of the family. This father and son relationship is considered as the basic relationship in a Chinese family as the other relationship only became the supplement.
The relationship between husband and wife is only a supplement to the father and son relationship above. A marriage is made in the name of the parents taking a daughter-in-law, not in the name of a son taking a wife (Hsu, 1948:59). Some expressions of erotic life between husband and wife are sociably banished in front of public. The new wives usually only sleep together in one bed for seven days after their marriage and then they will sleep in the different beds or even in the different rooms.
2.3. Criticism on the Novel and the Author
Chinese life in this novel. Second, the theme of The Good Earth is uncomplicated, and people like to read novels with no complicated literary techniques and theme. Third, this novel gives a universal appeal in describing a man’s struggle for survival, success and happiness. Magill (1989: 336) says:
Buck’s feeling for the fundamental truths of life transcended any preconceived notions that the reading public may have had about China, and portrayed her people as understandable human beings who struggled for happiness and success like anyone else.
I agree with what Magill says. In this novel, in detail Buck describes Chinese characters. She writes about what she knows best. Even though she is not from China.
Another criticism comes from Stuckey (1966: 92-93):
The Good Earth is sentimental and rather too pathly idealistic, as childishly simple book in which good and evil are neatly labeled. Whatever is gained in smoothness and uniformity is lot by the author’s inability to make real to dramatize thought and feeling.
I believe what Stuckey states is not that simple. Most characters in The Good Earth is differ from others, both good and bad. Sometimes the major character who is considered to be a good person behaves like “evil”, and the secondary characters who are usually considered to be bad persons behave correctly. These different behaviors show the behaviors of a human being in a real life.
She has extraordinary gift for presenting the Chinese not as quaint and illogical, yellow skinned, exotic devil-dolls, but as human being merely, animated by motives we can always understand even when the background is strange.
Cowley writes his statement above from his deep criticism of The Good Earth in
The Good Earthling.
This chapter will be divided into three parts. The first one is the Subject Matter. Here, I will talk about the novel that will be analyzed. The second is the Critical Approach. In this part, I will discuss the approaches that are used and significant in analyzing the novel. The last part is the Procedure. Here I will explain the steps in doing the analysis.
3.1 Subject Matter
In this study, I analyze Pearl S. Buck’s novel, The Good Earth. The novel was published in 1931 by John Day Company. It is the first edition. The novel consists of 339 pages.
This novel centers on the Chinese customs and cultures such as foot-binding, slavery, the belief toward gods and goddesses, and concubinage. Particularly, in this study I would like to analyze the main character’s (Wang Lung) motivation in taking concubines. I also would like to analyze how concubinage is viewed by the Chinese society at the time between the last of 19th century and the early of the 20th century as depicted in the novel.
3.2 Approach
approach is suitable for my study. It is significant for me to know the background of the culture where the novel was created. It is also important to find out what kind of tradition of the characters. I also need to understand the condition of the place and time when the story happens.
The psychological approach is adopted to analyze the factors which motivate Wang Lung in taking some concubines. So, it is important for me to know his psychological condition. As I know that motivation has a big relation toward the psychology of a person because it appears inside the psychology of the human.
3.3 Procedure.
This chapter will be divided into four parts. Firstly, I will discuss the characters in the novel. I will discuss the main character and the secondary characters. Secondly, I will talk about the setting which consists of the time and the place of the story. Thirdly, in this study I will reveal how concubinage viewed in Chinese society at the time when the story happens. Then, in the last part, I will explore the factors which motivate Wang Lung in practicing concubinage.
4 .1 The Analysis of the characters
In this part, I will discuss the major character and the secondary characters. The major character is Wang Lung. Then the secondary characters are O-Lan, Lotus, Pear Blossom, Wang Lung’s father, and Wang Lung’s uncle. In this analysis, there will be some quotations from the novel to support analysis of those characters.
4.1.1 The main character (Wang Lung).
At the beginning of the story Wang Lung is a poor man. He cannot afford a wedding with an ordinary girl but a slave. This fact can be seen from this quotation from the novel:
He is brought in a peasant family. The fact that Wang is a farmer is seen in the conversation when his father advises him to get a slave as his wife. He says:
“...No, not a pretty woman in our house. We are farmers…. Do you imagine a pretty woman will think your farmer’s hand as pleasing as the soft hand of the rich man’s son, and your sun black face as beautiful as…”(p. 8).
Because of he belongs to a farmer (peasant) family, he often works under the sun so that he has a sun black face.
Wang Lung is a man who obeys his father very much. He takes care of his sick everyday. He never does anything without his father’s approval. For example when he is in the barbershop and the barber says that the fashion is cutting off the braid, Wang Lung rejects to do so. He says: “ I cannot cut it off without asking my father!” And the barber laughed and skirted the round spot of his hair.”(p. 10)
He is also a simple man who dreams about a woman who is not pock marked or who was a split upper lip. So simple that he just agrees to marry the slave his father has chosen for him. Let us see the quotation below:
“At least, I will not have a woman who is pock marked or had she a split upper lip. This much he knew, but nothing more. He and his father had bought two silver rings, washed with gold, and two silver earrings, and those acknowledgements of betrothal. Beyond this, he knew nothing about the woman who was to be his, except that on this day, he could go and get her “(p. 8).
It is said in the first page that he is very shy if the woman finds out his messy house. We can see it from the sentence: “He was ashamed to say aloud that he wished his house to look neat on this day…”(p. 1).
When he meets his neighbors, for example, he avoids him by escaping through the side door of a teashop. We can see it from the quotation below:
“It is robbery,” he muttered, unwilling. Then he saw entering the shop his neighbors whom he had invited to the feast, and he put the penny hastily upon the table and…went out quickly by the side door (p. 12). The same thing happens when he is in front of the gatekeeper. He cannot speak fluently for he is so shy and afraid. He feels like a poor man who has no right to appear in front of the public, as seen in this conversation:
“I am come…I am come...,” faltered Wang Lung.
“That I see. “ said the gateman with elaborate patience, twisting the long hairs on his mole.
“There is a woman,” said Wang Lung, his voice sinking helplessly to a whisper. In the sunshine his face was wet (p. 13).
Wang Lung is a hard worker that he never enjoys his youth because he is too busy with his farm. He can keep working for a whole day. When his feet touch the land he works on, he will forget his weariness:
Then Wang Lung set himself robustly to he soil and he begruged even the hours he must spend in the house for food and sleep. He loved rather to take hiss roll of bread and garlic to the field and stand there eating, planning and thinking, “Here shall I put the black eyed peas and here the young rice bed.” (p. 135).
His uncle replied shrilly: “You are rich- you are rich! You have bought the land from the great house at the gods know what heavy price-is there another village who could do this thing?” At this Wang Lung was goaded to anger. He flung down his hoe and shouted: “If I have a handful of silver, it is because I work and my wife works, and we do not, as some do, sit idling over a gambling table or gossiping on the doorsteps never swept, letting the fields grow to weeds and our children go half-fed!”(pp. 58-59).
Wang Lung is also an economical man. It is all because he is so poor that some simple things like water, tea, and food are precious for him. He is very careful in using his limited food, water, and money. Wang Lung and his father do not normally waste their water for washing. His father complains when Wang Lung washes his body on his wedding day. He says: “It will be ill if we start the woman like this – tea in the morning water and all this washing (p. 4). He does not like to spend his money for useless matters such as gambling and cigarettes. He prefers to save the money which he gets from the harvest. It is said: “...Wang Lung was frugal and he did not like many of the villagers, spend his money freely at gambling or on food to delicate for them”(p. 40). In his village, there is a custom in which people are visiting each other to intimate their relationship by sharing tea and food from their harvest. Wang Lung and his wife rarely do this. They prefer to keep their harvests at home than to share them with their neighbors. Moreover, Wang Lung is worried that his neighbors will borrow his money or house stuffs:
Wang Lung is also a man who really appreciates his land. He buys land as much as he can. He always thinks that the land is the most important thing in his life. When he is still poor, he works hard to collect silvers so that he can buy some land. Until one day he can buy more and more land and it changes his life. He becomes wealthier. Wang Lung even does not care how much money he spent to buy lands. As written in the novel:
And once again Wang Lung did not count the passing of silver, which was his flesh and his blood, a hard thing. He bought with it the desire of his hearth. He had now a vast field of good land, for the new field was twice as large as the first (p. 65).
When the drought strikes Wang Lung’s village, he and his family have spent all of their money. However, Wang Lung does not want to sell his land. Let us see this quotation:
“They cannot take the land from me. The labor of my body and the fruit of my fields I have put into that which cannot be taken away. If I had the silver, they would have taken it. If I had bought with the silver to store it, they would have taken it all. I have the land still, and it is mine” (pp. 70-71).
He loves his lands more than anything. He even says that he will feed his family with soil than to sell his land. As this quotation:
Nothing can stop Wang Lung of having Lotus. He builds a new court for Lotus with luxurious furniture (pp.183-184). Letting Lotus to stay at his house, Wang Lung becomes the first man in his family who practice concubinage. We can see this through his father’s complaint: “And I had one woman and my father had one woman and we farm the land.” And again he cried out after a time, ”I say it is a harlot!”(p.197).
However, his greatness love to Lotus never kills his love to his children and his land. He proves his love to his children by scolding Lotus. When Lotus is frightened with the appearance of Wang Lung’s retarded daughter, who is let by his twin brother and sister in her court, she cries to Wang Lung but he says: “Now will I not hear my children cursed, no and not by anyone and not even by my poor fool, and not by you who have no son in your womb for any man”(p.199).
After this incident, Wang Lung’s love to Lotus decreases. When the summer comes to its end, Wang Lung is awakened by the receded water over his land. He sees his land waiting for him and that land needs him. The autumn changes him and brings him back to the old Wang Lung, who is workaholic(p.200).
“ …and my mother said I was not allowed to weep aloud because you are too kind and weak for pain and you might say to leave me as I am, and them my husband would not love me even as you do not love her.” (p. 235)
She tells this when Wang Lung asks her why she is weeping. It is the pain from her binding feet which are bound more and more tightly from day to day.
O-Lan tells her that a man will not love a woman with large feet. And when Wang Lung asks her she simply tells him what her mother has told her. It is the beginning of a change in Wang Lung’ s attitudes towards O-Lan. Her sentences bring him back to the past and he finds out how faithful O-Lan is and how he has neglected her.
However, it seems that it is more than a pity that Wang Lung feels upon O-Lan. Perhaps her ugliness is unacceptable for him as a rich man, but he does know that O-Lan is actually his great treasure, who has turned his life. It is O-Lan who has taught the truth. He knows now he is in great loss when O-Lan dies. His thought and mannerism speak of it. As it is written:
“There in that land of mine is buried the first good half of my life and more. It is as though half of me were buried there, and now it is a different life in my house.”
And suddenly he wept a little, and he dried his eyes with the back of his hand, as a child does. (p. 255)
After O-Lan’ s death, Wang Lung seems to lose his morality. It is true that actually he hates his uncle and his uncle’ s family, but he never plans to kill them. He, who even does not dare to kill his ox, now plans to kill his uncle and his uncle’ s wife by giving some opium.
Wang Lung also plans to move to the town. He who has never intended to move from his land, now is tempted to leave it just because of his shyness of his past life of being a poor man:
He had gone crawling into that great house and stood ashamed in the presence of those who lived there so that he was frightened of even the gateman, and this had remains memory of shame to him all his life and he hated it… So, when his son said , “We could live in the great house, “the thought leaped into his mind as though he saw it before his eyes, “ I could seat there and so call another into my presence” (p.272).
Wang Lung moves to the House of Hwang then leaves his earthen house and his land. He lives in idleness of his richness. However, again he never gets his peace. His house in the town is always full of hatred. There are his sons fight and their wives have a quarrel each other. There is also an altercation between him and his youngest son about his son’ s view and ideal. In such situation, still he finds once more, a girl – a young girl – as his concubine.
How sad he is to see that none of his children cares about his land. How miserable he is when he knows that his first son’ s wife does not feed her own baby with her own milk. His reaction when he hears his first son’ s proposal shows his sadness for his daughter- in- law:
Then his son came in smiling and important and he said loudly: “ The man child is born, my father, and now we must find a woman to nurse him with her breast, for I will not have my wife’s beauty spoiled with the nursing and her strength sapped with it. none of the woman of position in the town do so.”
And Wang Lung said sadly, although why he was sad he did not know,
“ Well, and if it must be so, if she can not nurse her own child.” (p. 285).
When Wang Lung is about sixty five years, he finds out that he is in love with a maid called Pear Blossom, Lotus’ slave. Again, he does not understand whether he loves her or not. All he knows is that there are jealousy and pain when his youngest son wants Pear Blossom too. Considering his old age compared with Pear Blossom, he keeps thinking to give Pear Blossom to his youngest son. Still, he just can not let his youngest son have her. It is true that Wang Lung actually has nobody as a friend who cares about him like O-Lan. Pear Blossom , who treats Wang Lung as if he were the kindest man in the world, seems to be able to fill his loneliness. She cares about Wang Lung as if he were her father.
However, it is ironical for Wang Lung to forbid his sons to have a premarital sexual intercourse and goes to a prostitute himself. He goes to Lotus, who is a prostitute and he does premarital sexual intercourse with Lotus and Pear Blossom before he takes them as his concubine: “Now keep off the slaves—I will not have the rotten ways of young lords in my house. We are good stout country folk and people with decent ways, and none of this in my house” (p. 320).
He says this to his youngest son when his son tells him that he wants Pear Blossom for pleasure. This also shows a great change for Wang Lung. When he was poor, he really cared about the value of morality. He changes his mind when he is rich. It seems that he wants to show that if he does bad things it is all right for he owns everything. Money can make everything he wishes come true. Once, when his sons protest him of having a very young maid as his concubine, he says, “Am I not the master of my own house and may I not take my slave I bought with my silver?” (p. 326) Another time, “ Why not?” and “It is my own house.” (p. 328).
Wang Lung lives glamorously like an old lord of a rich family. But tragically, he loses everything he loves. He loses the land, which means everything to him. In his old age he moves to his land with Pear Blossom and his retarded daughter.
He lives like his old father, who lies in the sun the sun shine everyday and does nothing.(p. 337). The tragic scene happens when Wang Lung hears his first and second son plan to sell his land:
And his two sons held him, one on either side, each holding his arm, and he held tight in his hand the warm loose earth. And they soothed him, and they said over and over, the first and the second son,
“Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The land is not to be sold.” But over the old man’s head they looked at each other and smiled (p. 339).
4.1.2 The Secondary Character 4.1.2.1 O-Lan
O-Lan is a woman who is described as a plain woman with no beauty in her whole appearance. She has dark skin with spare and big-boned body. Her voice is plain and not ill tempered. Her feet are not bound as other ordinary woman in China. Her face is not beautiful:
Then Wang Lung turned to the woman and looked at her for the first time. She had a square, honest face, a short, broad nose with large black nostrils, and her mouth was wide as a gash in her face. Her eyes were small and of a dull black in colour, and were filled with some sadness that was not clearly expressed. It was a face that seemed habitually silent and unspeaking, as though it could not speak if it would. (p.18)
Like Wang Lung, O-Lan is also a hard worker. Together with her husband, they work on the land from dawn until the end of the day. She still works hard when he is pregnant. She stops from her work only on the day she gives birth. After that she will work again, harder and harder. As seen in the novel: “It is come, “she said. I will go into the house. Do not come into the room until I call. Only bring me a newly peeled reed, and slit it, that I may cut the child’s life from mine.”(p. 34).
fulfill all his needs. She is a thorough person for she always prepares everything well. Without telling anyone else, she prepares her own childbirth:
When she had been working in the fields beside him, she had been planning all this out! How astonishing she was! She would had said that she had scarcely thought of the child, so stilly had she gone about her work, day in and day out. Instead, she saw this child, born and fully clothed, and herself as his mother, in a new coat! (p. 32)
She is also an industrious-woman. She can change useless stuff into useful goods. She repairs broken house stuffs with her own hands. Sometimes she mends a leaked jar by welding the crack with earth and clay. She lashes torn mats and builds the oven. Let see this quotation:
And O-lan in the house was not idle. With her own hands she lashes the mats firmly to the rafters and took earth from the fields and mixed it water and mended the walls of the house, and she built again the oven and filled the holes in the floor that their rain had washed (p. 135).
O-Lan is also an independent woman. Even her family becomes rich, she does not take any maid or slave. She still cooks for her husband ad children, sews their clothes, and works on the land. She even does not change her appearance. She thinks that it is enough for a woman to bare sons.
her blessing to his eldest son. She is very ill on his son’ wedding day. When the wedding ceremony is over, she dies soon.
4.1.2.2 Lotus
She is a prostitute. She is very beautiful with her pointed chin and a little small face (p.170). Her hands are so small and also her bones. She knows anything well about treating men in bed, so that Wang Lung asks her to teach him.
And at that he seized her hand between both of his, but carefully, because it was like a fragile dry leaf, hot and dry, and he said to her imploringly and not knowing what he said :“I don’t know anything – teach me!”
And she taught him.(p.172)
In flattering someone, Lotus is also good. She just sighs and murmurs to Wang Lung, then he will give whatever she wants.
She would sigh and murmur, as though her heart were half broken with her desire : “Ah me – ah me !”
And when he whispered, having learned at last to speak in her presence, ”What now, my little heart?” she answered, ”I have no joy today in you because Black jade, that one across the hall from me, has a lower who gave her a gold pin for her hair, and I have only this old silver thing, which I have had forever and a day.”
And then for his life’s sake he could not but to her, pushing a side a smooth black curve of her hair that he might have the delight of seeing her small long-lobed ears : “ And so will I buy a gold pin for the hair of my jewel” (p.176).
Lotus as a second woman in Wang Lung’s house never tries to make a good relationship toward other members of the family. From the novel, we can see that Lotus hates his children.
…and Lotus shook with her anger and leaped up and down on her little feet and shook her finger at the poor laughing girl and cried out : “I will not stay in this house if that one comes near me, and I was not told that I should have accursed idiots to endure and if I had known it I would have come-filthy children f ours!” and she pushed the little gaping boy who stood nearest her, clasping his twin sister’s hand (p.199).
This incident awakes Wang Lung’s anger. It makes his love to Lotus is not so wholly as before.
4.1.2.3 Pear Blossom
She is sold for twenty pieces of silver from her farmer when she was about seven years at that time. Then, she is told to be a delicate maid with pretty frightened eyes. She used to sleep on the foot of Lotus’ bed. As her slave, Pear Blossom serves everything needed by Lotus. She knows well what her mistress needs before her mistress knows it herself. Moreover, Pear blossom grows so pretty as a maid. Her face is oval, delicate and pale with a little pale red mouth. At the first time, Wang Lung never notices her, but after his cousin’s visit to Wang Lung’s great house with his great desire to have Pear Blossom, he begins to pay attention to her. At last he even falls in love her in his old age.
Lung to him for she hates young men. As she says to Wang Lung : “Every man I hate except you – I have hated every man, even my father who sold me. I have heard only evil of them and I hate hem all”(p.332).
As a woman, she is relatively perfect for she is beautiful and yet is capable of serving her husband and her husband’s retarded daughter. Her love is pure without looking for Wang Lung richness. Her gentleness shows her honesty in loving Wang Lung as well as his retarded daughter. When Wang Lung asks her to kill his retarded daughter, she rejects it :
I can scarcely kill an insect and how could I take this life? No, my lord, but I will take this poor fool for wine because you have been kind to me – kinder than any in all my life, and the only kind one (p. 331)
Pear Blossom acts as a secretary who tells every thing to Wang lung as he grows old and forgets everything. She takes care of Wang Lung every time. The difference of age does not stop her to love Wang Lung.
4.1.2.4 Wang Lung’s Father
This old man is a widower. He is weak and has a problem with his lung. Getting used to the poverty, Wang Lung’s father is always careful to spend whatever he has eve the tea leaves. He always says, “ Why are you so wasteful?” Tea is like eating silver.”(p. 4). Nothing changes him even when Wang Lung is rich, he still keeps murmuring about the cost of the tea.
“ On such day as this, “ he said aloud to his father’” the fields should be turned and cultivated.”
“ Ah,” said the man tranquilly,” I know what is your thought. Twice and twice again in my years I had to do as we did this year and leave the fields and know that there was no seed in them for fresh harvests.” “ But you always went back, my father.”
“ There was the land, my son,” said the old man simply.”(p. 110). Wang Lung’s father also acts as an organizer. He has organized Wang
Lung’s meeting with O-Lan. He knows that he cannot manage the marriage of his son to an ordinary girl because he is too poor to do it. So he goes to the great house to ask for a slave. He tells his son that the most important thing in marrying a woman is that the woman is not pock-marked and has no split upper lip.(p. 7). Further he says:
And what will we do with a pretty woman? We must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children as she works in the fields, and will a pretty a pretty woman do this thing? …No! Not a pretty woman in this house. We are farmers. Moreover, whop has heard of a of a pretty slave who was virgin in wealthy house?(p. 8).
4.1.2.5 Wang Lung’s Uncle
Now out of my house, you and yours and no more rice will there be for any of you from this hour, and I will burn the house down rather than have it shelter you, who have no gratitude even in your idleness... Now these thing, the red beard and the red length of cloth were sign and symbol of a band of robbers who lived and marauded toward the north-west, and many houses had they burned and women they had carried away, and good farmers they had bound with ropes to the threshold of their own houses men found them there next day, raving mad if they lived and burnt and crisp as roasted meat if they were dead (pp. 216-217).
Wang Lung asks for his son’s suggestion. His son plans to kill the uncle and his family, but Wang Lung refuses the idea because other people will find out. After along time, they get an idea. Wang Lung buys a lot of opium for his uncle. Everyday his uncle and the family enjoys the opium without realizing that it will kill them slowly. His uncle dies first, then his wife later. Their son goes abroad to be a soldier and their daughter is sold to rich people.
4.2.Analysis of the Setting
4.2.1 The setting of time
It seems that when Wang Lung moved to Kiangsu, The Boxer Uprising was taken to represent the time of the story. It happened between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. As it is written:
But then the little village of sheds clinging to the wall never became a part of the city or of the country side which stretched beyond, and once when Wang Lung heard a young man haranguing a crowd at the corner of the Confucian temple, where any man may stand, if he has the courage to speak up, and a young man said if China must have a revolution and must rise against the hated foreigners ...(p. 89).
up the role of the western foreigners in China (1945: 470-483). It is stated in his book that the Boxer Uprising which happened in 1990’s, was rooted from several factors. In the novel it is written that in Kiangsu there are some public speeches to motivate people to run a revolution. The young intellectuals generate the poor as their mass of revolution. They tell people that the rich become very rich because they have seized what is supposed to be the poor’s possession.
The aggressive missionaries are also pictured in the novel. A foreigner who distributes pamphlets in Kiangsu is actually a Christian missionary. This interpretation rises from the paper he gives to Wang Lung. The man, a white skinned man, who hangs upon a crosspiece of wood, seems to be Jesus.
He took what was thrust at him, then and when he had courage to look at it after the foreign had passed on, he saw on the paper a picture of a man, white skinned, who hung upon a crosspiece of wood. The man without clothes except for his a bit about his loins, and to all appearances he was dead, … There were characters beneath, but these he could make nothing…(pp. 98-109).
The Chinese Revolution also shown in this novel. We can see it from the war that happened at that time. Many people become soldiers and go to the south to fight in a war.
These soldiers are going to battle somewhere and they need carriers for their bedding and their guns and their ammunition and so they force laborers like you to do it. But what part are you from? It is no new sight in this city (p. 121).
4.2.2 The Setting of Place
There are two places where the story takes place. They are Kiangsu (Jiangsu) and Anhwei (Anhui). Anhwei is the birth place of Wang Lung, where he spends the rest of his life. He lives in Anhwei together with their family as a peasant. In Anhwei, people depend their work on the weather. They rely their lives on nature. Anhwei is the place where he fights against the poverty. However, he and his family can stand with it. until one day he can change his small land into the vast one. Then, Wang Lung becomes a landlord who owned vast land and courts in Anhwei.
Kiangsu is the city where Wang Lung and his family live temporarily. They move from their because of the drought which causes poverty.
Kiangsu differs so much from Anhwei. People in Kiangsu do not merely depend their lives upon farming. In, that place Wang Lung survives as a jinriksha driver, while his wife, his father, and his children beg on the streets.
In Kiangsu Wang Lung gets a lot of money unexpectedly, so that he and his family can go back to his village and start a new life. The novel shows the places where Wang Lung was born and where he then moves:
“But Anhwei is not Kiangsu. In Anhwei, where Wang Lung was born, the language is slow and deep and it weels from the throat. But in the Kiangsu city where they now lived, the people spoke in syllables which splintered from their lips and from the ends of their tongues.”(p. 101)
The novel also describes about how rich Kiangsu is. All kinds of food are available:
in the night out of the teeming river… At the grain markets there were such basket of grain that a man might step into them and sink and smother and none know it who did not see it; white rice and brown, and dark yellow-beans and red bean ,green broad beans…”.(pp.103-104)
Geographically, Anwhei is a village in rural area that produces rice as its main crops. It is an area where Hwai and Yangtze rivers flow through that the land there is fertile. Anhwei is bounded on the southeast by Chekiang, on northeast by Kiangsu, on the south by Kiangsi, and on the north by Shanthung, within a sort distance.
Kiangsu is the area where the Yangtze river empties to Pacific Ocean. It bouds Anhwei on the southwest, Chekiang on the south, Hunan on the west, and Shanhtung on the North.
4.3 The Chinese Society’s View toward Concubinage between the End of the
19th Century and the Early 20th Century.
possible to hold concubine more than one. They usually hold a concubine(s) in purpose to have sexual satisfaction since they are not satisfied toward their wife.
As we can see in the novel, even The Old Lord of Hwang already has two concubines, he still tries to get another concubine, Peach Blossom. People around there seem ordinary to see this phenomenon of practicing concubinage. As written in the novel, The Gateman of the House of Hwang said:” He sleeps with his new concubine, Peach Blossom, when he has had but three days. It is not worth my life to waken him”(p.51). It seem that the Gateman does not want to disturb the Old Lord was spending the time with his concubine in the bed room.
Further, this novel also describes Wang Lung, as the main character, practices concubinage. When he was poor, he never thinks of having even a concubine. As stated by Hsu (1948:30) that between the end of ninetieth century and the early twentieth century, men in the superior status tend to practice concubine for their sexual pleasure and to show others that they were rich. Wang Lung in this novel, supports this fact that when he becomes rich, he starts to do anything he wants includes practicing concubinage. Wang Lung begins to be careless of his money and silvers. He always thinks what he can do to enjoy the days of his manhood. He goes to a great tea shop in the town where people usually spent their money in gambling and in playing women.
There, firstly he practices prostitution. He asks for a girl named Lotus. Moreover, he wants Lotus to be his concubine. The thought in China that it is his right for a man to hold a concubine(s) is now filling his head. In this novel he says: “ I need of more than one. And why should I not, seeing that I have land to feed us all.(p.181).
For the women’s point of view, it seems that having a concubine(s) is an ordinary thing, as it is commonly done by many rich man. As we can see in the novel:
But his uncle’s wife said again: “And it is not to be thought , poor fool, that one woman is enough for any man, and if that one is a weary hard-working woman who has worn away her flesh working for him, she is less than enough for him. His fancy runs elsewhere the more quickly, and you, poor fool, have never been fit for a man’s fancy and little better than an ox for his labour.(p.181)
Other part of the novel mentions:
She answered volubly and eagerly: “And why not, indeed? So who have all men who have prospered. It is only the poor man drinking for one cup.(p.181)
Moreover, the women themselves sometimes help the men in practicing concubinage. From the novel we can see what Wang Ling’s aunt has done. She offers her help to be the midlle-women:
“But who will negotiate for me and be the middle-man? A man can not go to a woman and say” come to my house” . To this she answered instantly:” Now do you leave this affair in my hands. Only tell me which woman it is and I will manage the affair.”(p.182)
clearly stated by Hsu (1948: 32) that in China, a man has a bigger right than a woman. In the novel, this fact can be seen by looking at this quotation: “But she answered nothing except to say over and over, moaning: “ I have borne you sons – I have borne you sons”.(p.185)
However , it seems that actually not every man agrees that it is all right to hold a concubine(s) even they are able to fulfill all the concubine’s need. We can see this in novel, when Wang Lung’s father mocks Lotus as a harlot.
Than the old man saw his son standing beside a slender painted girl he cried out in his shrill cracked voice: “ There is a harlot in the house!” and he would not be silent although Wang Lung, fearing lest Lotus grow angry, for this small creature, could shriek and scream and beat …”now calm your hearth, my father. It is not a harlot but a second woman in the house.”(p.197)
It seems that Wang Lung’s father is really disappointed that his son practices concubinage. Wang Lung’s father keeps on mocking her. however, he cannot forbid his son, since practicing concubinage at that age seems to be a common thing.
But the old man would not be silent and whether he heard was said or not no one knew, only he shouted over and over,” There is a harlot here!”…and again he cried out after time, “I say it is a harlot!(p. 197)
Being disagree, Wang Lung’s father tries to disturb and make Lotus gets angy by splits furiously.
4.4 Wang Lung’s Motivation, as the main character, in Practicing
Concubinage.
Being rich, he begins to be careless of his money and silver. He starts to think what he can do to enjoy the days of his manhood. Everything seems not so good to him as it is before. The tea-shop which he used to enter timidly, now seems dingy and mean to him. Moreover, he does not want to an ordinary tea-shop. He feels too rich to go there, then he starts to enter the greatest tea shop in the town.
“Now why should I drink my tea at this tea shop, whose owner is a cross-eyed weasel and whose earnings are less that the labourer’s upon my land, I who have land and whose sons are scholars?”(p.163)
But now, driven by his unrest from idleness and wishing to escape from the reproach of his own heart when he remembered that he had been unjust to his wife, he went to ward this place. He was compelled by his restlessness to see or to hear something new. Thus he stepped across the threshold of the new tea-shop into the glittering room, full of tables and open to the street as it was, and he went in.(pp 163-164)
This habit, visiting a great tea-shop, becomes the beginning of all. Here, he starts to practice prostitution, until at the end he takes one of the prostitute, Lotus, as his concubine. It seems that he starts to practice prostitution because he do not want to be mocked by Cuckoo (the owner of the tea shop) for he is only a farmer. As seen from this conversation:
She came forward when she saw a man’s figure, for it was her business to get custom for the women of the house, but when she saw who it was, she shrugged her shoulders and said:
Wang was stung with the sharp carelessness in her voice, and his sudden anger gave him a courage he had not otherwise, so that he said:
“Well, and may I not come into the house and may I not do as other men?”(p. 169)
It seems that Wang Lung is very confident for he is able to do as other men do. He wants to show Cuckoo that he is rich now.
And she shrugged herself again and laughed and said:
“If you have the silver that other men have, you may do as they do.” And he wished to show her that he was lordly and rich enough to do as he liked, and he thrust his hand into his girdle and brought it out full of silver and he said to her:
“Is it enough and is it not enough?”
She stared at the handful of silver and said then without further delay:
“Come and say which one you wish.”(p169)
Time after time, he goes to the tea shop frequently, only to meet Lotus, because he finds that he falls in love with her. He can not stand with his desire to hold Lotus as his own. He finally buys her to be his concubine. Actually he knows that O-Lan can not accept this fact. However, his desire to hold concubine is bigger than his pity upon O-Lan. He feels that he only does as other men do. He does not think that what he has done upon O-Lan is a cruel thing. He still feels he is better than other men. Being the same with any men do, rich men, supports him to have another woman in his house.
Wang Lung watched her as she went and he was glad to be alone, but still he was ashamed and he said himself and muttered the words aloud and restlessly, as though he quarreled with someone:
The greatest thing that motivates him in holding Lotus as his concubine is her physical appearance. Her beauty attacks Wang Lung’s attention that he can not control his lust. He is mad over Lotus’ beauty. He never thinks of knowing a women with such beauty.
He sat stiffly on the bed beside her, staring at her, and he saw that she was like the picture and having seen the picture he would have known her if he had met her. But most of all her hands were like the painted hand, curling and fine and white as milk. Her two hands are curling into each other upon the pink and silken lap of her rope.(p. 171)
Lotus is so beautiful that Wang Lung cannot stop to look at her.
He looked at her as he had looked the picture, and he saw the small pointed face set in its painted prettiness above the high collar lined with whit fur; He saw the round eyes, the shape of apricots, so that now at last he understood what the storytellers meant when they sang of the apricot eyes of the beauties of old. And for him she was not flesh and blood but the painted picture of a woman.(p.171)
While, toward O-Lan, he never finds the meaning of beauty since she does not have it in every part of her body. He never tells how O-Lan seems to him before he meets Lotus, a woman with beauty in all of her part of her body. It seems that he wants to compare O-Lan to Lotus physically.
And it seemed to Wang Lung that he looked at O-Lan for the first time in his life and he saw for the first time that she was a woman whom no man could call other than she was, a dull and a common creature… her eyebrows were scattered and the hair too few, and her lips were too wide, and her hands and feed are were large and spreading. Looking at her thus with strange eyes, he cried out at her: “Now any one looking at you would say you were the wife of a common fellow and never of one who has land which he hires men to plough!”
The fact that Lotus’ beauty can not be compared to O-Lan motivates Wang Lung to hold her as her second wife.
However, a long time after O-Lan’s death, when he moves to stay at the great house of Hwang for rent, again he is attracted by a little girl named Pear Blossom. She is Lotus’ slave. This time, he falls in love with Pear Blossom is not merely because of her beauty but her care toward him and his family includes his retarded daughter also.
“Now here is a gate of safety for her in this packed, and when I die , after I am dead, you are to mix it in her rice and let he eat it, that she may follow me where I am. And so shall I be at ease.” But Pear Blossom shrank from the thing he held in this hand and she said in her soft way: “ I can scarcely kill an insect and how could I take this life? No, my lord, but I will take this poor fool for mine because you have been kind to me- kinder than any in all my life, and the only kind one.”(p.331)
However, he realizes that he was too old to be her husband. He tells her that Pear Blossom may get a man younger and stronger than him, but she says that he loves an old man much than a young man.
. And he said slowly: “Child- I am an old man-a very old man-“. And she said, and her voice came out of the darkness like the very breath of the cassia tree: “I like old men-I like old men-They are so kind-“(p.323)
Again, Wang Lung wants to make Pear Blossom sure that he is not compatible for her. However, Pear Blossom keeps in her mind that the old men are better. She does not want to get the younger and the stronger, even she may get it.
