Student Essay on The Good Earth: Filial Piety: a Curse, or a Blessing?

The Good Earth: Filial Piety: a Curse, or a Blessing?

Summary:   In Pearl Buck's novel, The Good Earth, she implies that pre-Revolutionary Chinese people feel obligations: to treat their elders' wants as preeminent priorities, to use capital punishment to discipline their children, and to allow their elders to select their spouses and careers for them.

Filial Piety: A Curse, or a Blessing"

In Pearl Buck's novel, The Good Earth, she implies that pre-Revolutionary Chinese people feel obligations: to treat their elders' wants as preeminent priorities, to use capital punishment to discipline their children, and to allow their elders to select their spouses and careers for them. Buck also shows how these obligations: partially cause Wang Lung's children to feel apathetic towards their land, and also how these obligations spark a chain reaction that eventually causes Wang Lung to fear and feel jealous of his third son. These obligations also contribute to the starvation of Wang Lung's children, O-lan's act of infanticide, Wang Lung's difficulty in asserting himself against others, and lastly, Wang Lung's love for his land up till his old age. To prove these generalizations, we will first reexamine previous incidences of filial piety as portrayed in The Good Earth. Second, we will trace the chain of events that these specific obligations set off to see why these consequence occur to Wang Lung.

Wang Lung's obligations to his elders show how the needs of the elders demand preeminent attention. When the uncles comes to Wang Lung's house ( which now stands rich from the jewels that O-lan steals from the Nanking house during the raid) during the family's early meal, he "helped himself freely to rice and dried salt fish." Then, the uncle has Wang Lung lead him to the father's bed, where he, " lifted the quilts and felt the good cloth...and ..was asleep.." Wang Lung cannot resist, even when the uncle says, " Now I will fetch my wife and my son." One might think that Wang would kick out the uncle, for the uncle demands money from Wang Lung so that he can marry off his daughter. In the past, the uncle also tries to sell Wang Lung's land during the famine, and lastly, he does not work his own land thoroughly. Therefore, since his uncle and his family suffer from poverty, they come to Wang Lung's house. The hapless Wang Lung can say nothing but kind words as they eat of the food and the beds that he once sweats for in Kiangsu, dragging a rickasha. Wang Lung's father, however, does not act pathetically like the uncle. Wang Lung shows another obligation to his father when he buries his father "under a date tree" despite that the land promises good wheat. This "was a sign of the establishment of his family upon their own land." So, Wang Lung lost some of his good land, and thus, he also lost a portion of his income in order to bury his elder father in a fertile pleasant site. During the famine, the rains, "withheld themselves," and so the Wang family (save the old man, although he eats less food as well), and the entire village starve. Ching says that, "In the village they are eating human flesh." However, "the old man fared better than any, for if there was anything, he was given it." Therefore, the children, whose bellies " were swollen out with empty wind," starve even more, because Wang Lung gives any remaining food to his father. Why do the young people respect their elders so much? Perhaps the elderly enjoy such attention because the majority of the proletariat do not have an education. Therefore, the poor majority must depend on the experience of their elders to learn the family trade. After all, only the rich can afford an education, shown when Wang Lung " carried a blue kerchief filled with fresh eggs and these eggs he gave to the old teacher." The poor majority however, struggle to survive, and thus, cannot afford an education.

The elders believe in capital punishment to discipline the young when they act inappropriately, illustrated when the neighbors say, " It is a worthy old teacher," when they hear the cries of the teacher beating his pupils In fact, when Wang Lung first takes his two sons to school, he says to the old teacher, " ..if you wish to please me, beat them to make them learn..." Wang Lung demonstrates another example of the elders' right to beat the young for acting brashly when he takes his younger son out of hearing and cuffs his ears, despite the fellow's bellowing, because the younger son has stolen a morsel of meat from the butcher ( this thief occurs when the Wang family migrate south to Kiangsu) Therefore, Wang beats his son to punish his thievery, as well as to satisfy his bristling anger. Why does pre-Revolutionary China and ( non- modern Western civilization) believe in capital punishment? Perhaps it disciplines the wrong doer. For example, Wang Lung once beats his eldest son with a stick of bamboo with leaves at the tip when he sees him flirting with Lotus in her court. The eldest son never flirts with Lotus again, and he even, "remembered with a sickness in his vitals that he himself had once hung about this woman." Perhaps another reason that both Western society and pre- Revolutionary china beat their young when they act rowdily lies in the poor education of the majority. As a result of a poor education, adults lack the persuasive skills to assertively demand a change in their sons and daughters behavior. It stands to reason then that they must beat their young more frequently to drive in morals.

The young also have the obligation to remain silent, and to follow their elders' orders without question. When the waters recede, Wang Lung takes with him his youngest son, that the lad might learn the art of farming. Wang Lung "never looked to see how the lad listened and whether he listened or not....for the lad walked with his head downcast.." In fact, "Wang had never thought to ask his youngest son what he wished to do with his life.." Yet another example of the young's obligation to follow orders without question involves Wang Lung as he decides that his second son will become apprenticed in the grain market. The "big man" does this so that the second son will not act rowdily as his older brother does. After making this decision, Wang Lung tells Cuckoo, "Now go and tell the father of my eldest son's betrothed that I have something to day to him." Wang Lung never asks his second son if this career suits him. Another example of the young having no say involves the sons' obligations to live in Wang Lung's house. When the elder son's wife nourishes a child in her womb, the elder son says to Wang Lung, " ..and there will soon be another mouth in the house and it will be the mouth of your grandson." The elder son has no other choice but to make babies with his wife in his father's house. After all, who would want their parents to tag along with them on their first date, much less live with their spouses in their parents' house?

The filial piety that Buck displays in her novel results in both and negative and positive ends. The elder's right to beat the young shows the negative effect of children devoid of the values of their parents. For example, consider that Wang Lung loves his land, and that he once cries, " If you sell the land, it is the end," when his sons decide amongst themselves which fields they will sell. Even after Wang Lung gives them a last minute harangue as to why the land must not be sold, they " looked at each other and smiled." Why do the sons not have the same love for the land as Wang Lung does? One reason involves Wang Lung, beating his second son. When the family moves to Kiangsu city to escape the famine, and the second son steals meat from the butcher, Wang Lung "took the boy's head under his arm and cuffed it soundly," instead of compromising with him. If Wang lets his son eat the meat, but then, harangues him in the ills of stealing as well as the family's values, his son will not only form a closer bond with his father, but begin a journey with his father. In this journey Wang Lung spends time with his children, and his children acquire some of his values throughout their life, including the love for the land.

Not only can filial piety result in the child's void in the values of their parents, but it also makes Wang Lung fear, and feel jealous of his own, youngest son. It never occurred to Wang Lung that his youngest son might have his own dreams ( until the eldest son broached the topic) Thus, as Wang takes his youngest son to the fields, a rift between father and son opens. In fact, Wang does not even see if his son listens carefully to his instructions. Because Wang Lung and his son stand so far apart, Wang Lung cannot persuade his youngest son to stay away from war, even after he tempts him with the promise of attending the best schools. The youngest son, who respects the credibility of the war stories rather than his father, runs away. As a result of Wang's inconsideration for his son's goals, an event of jealousy occurs. When the youngest son says, " ..there is not a beauty in the courts except perhaps the little pale maid..," Wang Lung sees that his son loves Pear Blossom and feels jealous. Later on, after his other two sons come to Wang Lung's court and talk idly of recent events, the youngest son also arrives at Wang's court. But he arrives in a "strange crouching way." This reminds Wang Lung ."....in a flash of a......panther he had once seen the men of the village bring in from the hills...and the beast was tied, but he crouched fort a spring.." Wang Lung " was suddenly afraid.." of his youngest son.

Wang Lung's obligation to his father during the famine that strikes during the time when Wang Lung still struggles to feed his poor family partially contributes not only to the starving of his children, but encourages O-lan to kill her newly born girl child as well. O-lan has to commit this rankest infanticide because the child "was only another mouth coming which must be fed." If this child lives, there will be four children to feed, instead of three children. Also, much of the family's food goes to the belly of the old man, leaving less food for Wang Lung, O-lan, and the children.

Wang Lung has another handicap; his culture discourages him to act assertively with his elders. Rather he must remain silent. Considering the saying "Practice makes perfect," its soon becomes clear that Wang Lung lacks social coping skills because he cannot practice his assertiveness skills with any of his elders ( although Wang Lung's has a passive personality in the first place). Since Wang Lung cannot practice his assertiveness skills against his elders, he finds great difficulty in assertively demanding that his youngest son stay at home, even after offering his son a fine education. Another example of Wang Lung acting passively, as a result of his inability to practice standing up for himself involves Cuckoo. "Cuckoo went to the town every day and she bought...; lichee nuts, and dried honey dates.. and horned fish...." This .".was more than he liked to give out.." However, Wang Lung feels afraid to say, "You are eating my flesh," for fear that Cuckoo will be angry with him.

However, obligations to the elderly also leads to a positive effect. Wang Lung's burial of his father in his good wheat land, an act of filial piety, encourages Wang Lung to never sell his land, and to embrace his land as he once did when he was poor. Wang Lung decides to only "rent some of his farthest fields to others.." During his last years of life, Wang Lungs says, " ..I would have it moved out to the earthen house and there I will live out my few days and there I will die." Wang Lung makes this decision partially because he has buried his father in a morsel of his fertile land. By doing this, Wang Lung has buried a part of his own flesh, his father. So it stands to reason that Wang wants to live out his last days in a land where he feels comfortable and at home.

Unfortunately, Wang Lung does not die in peace, even though he lives in his old earthen home. However, he can rejoice, for his experience with filial piety teaches us much about this idea. We learn that some that the young feel obligated to treat their elders needs with top priority, that they old feel it acceptable to beat the young when they act incongruously, and that elders have the right to choose the spouses and the careers of their children. Lastly, we learn the positive and negative effects that these obligations have on Wang Lung in particular. Perhaps we Americans must learn filial piety as well, only we must learn to drop this politeness when our elders trample over our rights.