The Good Earth Review (Book Review Sample)

Book Review Name Institutional Affiliation The story revolves around Wang Lung and his family as their lives fluctuates in wealth and poverty. The family begins in abject poverty but is able to find wealth later, only for it to be their source of problems. It begins for the parents after Lung begins to see an escort and his wife dies of anguish. His sons begin to plot behind him and lying to his face. There are many things that can be learnt from the story. Apart from the themes brought out in it, there is plenty that the reader is able to deduce about the history of China, upon which the premise of the story is set. The reader can deduce from the story that many of the Chinese make a living from farming, or at least that they did at the time of the writing of this book. One is able to understand the significance of land to them from the excerpt, "this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods" (p 27). This can be found all over the book through various descriptions. For example, the book states that when Lung reached a marriageable age, his father approached the Hwang family to give him one spare slave for his son to marry. The slaves that he was targeting had been working on the farm of the Hwang household, who happen to be very wealthy. The importance of land can also be seen when Lung is surprised that the Hwang family is selling its land. He calls it, "Land is one's flesh and blood." (p. 45) Later in the book, Lung and his wife are able to bring a little more fortune to their family, which affords them part of the land previously owned by the Hwang household. This serves to show that land is given a lot of importance in the book, as is the case in china. It can therefore be deduced that the soil in china is fertile and able to come up with produce upon which people can depend. That is the reason it is the first option for the Lung family. The story is also able to relay to the reader about the foods that are most commonly found in the country. This can be drawn from the period where the family moves to the city to escape poverty and famine that has already killed one of their children. It is stated that although they were not earning much from the begging, they are still guaranteed to eat because of the congee that is given for one cent. This food is readily available in the market and sold quite cheaply because of its ability to prosper in the soils of china. One of the ways that Lung makes a living while they are in the city is by pulling a rickshaw. This is a form of human transport where a person pulls two carts while carrying passengers. If it had not been obvious enough for the reader that china and Japan are not so far apart, this would be their way of confirming it. The rickshaw was invented in Japan in the years of 1860s where it was used as a method of transportation for a long time preceding the advancement in technology. From the story, it also becomes apparent that the south of China is way more developed than the north, mat least in terms of infrastructure and technology. For example, when the family of Lung is still at home in the village, it seems that the only way through which people I the area re able to earn a living is through agriculture. Things however begin to change when the family moves south. They have to take up jobs, none of which is concerned with agriculture. As the book states, Lung takes up pulling of a rickshaw while his wife and children begin to beg ion the streets. It is also...