The Good Earth Character Analysis

Are you sympathetic or unsympathetic towards a character’s dilemma or difficult decision? Why? I am extremely sympathetic towards the dilemma that was going on with the Chinese people in the famine. I feel bad for them because they didn’t have any money or food. They were so hungry that they ate each other at times, even their children. It was such a struggle for them every day of their lives during the famine. People didn’t have food and were rapidly becoming sick; children were being born with physical problems and weren’t being born healthy.
Imagine if you saw your mom or dad eating your brother or killing your sister because there’s not enough food to support more people. How would that make you feel? Imagine having no food and having
to hunt for your food. What if you were forced to work as a slave and were treated very bad.
If I were to be living in such a crisis I wouldn’t survive more than a month; especially since I have never been through anything as bad as a famine. We are so used to being under a roof and having everything we need, which is why it would be hard for us to survive. I never really thought about what it would be like if this were to occur one of these days. Thanks to this book, now I think about these kinds of things. How will I survive or react if I were to be living in a famine?

Alejandro Escamilla
English II Pre-AP
Writing Summer Assignment
If you could change the outcome of the story, what change would you make?
Why? If I could change the outcome of The Good Earth I would make it so that Wang Lung doesn’t die as fast and rather buries his sons and he dies at the end. I would like to do this also because I’d like for the land to stay how Wang Lung wanted it. I didn’t like the part that the kids decided to sell the land; which is why I would rather have Wang Lung live longer and bury his own sons and daughters. Here is the part that I would like to change. [Wang Lung heard his second son say in his mincing voice, “This field we will sell and this one, and we will divide the money between us evenly…” But the old man heard only these words, “sell the land,” and he cried out and he could not keep his voice from breaking and trembling with his anger, “Out of the land we came and into it we must go-…” “If you sell the land, it is the end.”] I think the kids should have taken the land and cultivated it just like Wang Lung did. I would have liked this better because it would have ended in a happy ending. I think the book was sad enough with things going the way Wang Lung wanted. Wang Lung put so much work into his land and should at least have had his land how he wanted it when he passed
away.

Alejandro Escamilla
English II Pre-AP
Writing Summer Assignment
I agree/disagree with ______’s decision to __________ because… I disagree with Wang Lung’s two sons’ decision to sell the land because Wang Lung put lots of work into it. Selling the land would have meant a waste of time for Wang Lung and would be like throwing away all his work. After all the work Wang Lung did on his land he should at least be thanked by his sons by them taking care of the land just like he did. I know that if I was in Wang Lung’s position and actually lived to see the land being sold I would be very mad and disappointed of my sons’ decision. The sons should have at least put the money into some better land. Rather than being greedy and just using it to ship rice to the sea and not do anything for their father. Unlike the sons the father was considerate and worked on the land with his family in mind. He worked on his land to help support his whole family. Wang Lung was emotionally attached to his land. He wanted to see his entire family raised on his land, even his grandsons. I know what it’s like to be so attached to something and then losing it. I used to have a dog that I grew up with and took care of for many years. Then one day I lost him and was very sad, I was mad because I had took really good care of him all my life.

Alejandro Escamilla
English II Pre-AP
Writing Summer Assignment
Of what other book or story does this book remind you? In what ways? The book “The Good Earth” reminds me of a book I read last year called “Across Five Aprils”. It was a book that took place during the Civil War and included farming as a thing that the family did which is why I was reminded of this book. I am also reminded of this book because they both seem like they take place around the same era. The style of the author is also very similar. Both stories are very sad and they both have a sad ending; not the usual happy ending of every other book I’ve read. In “Across Five Aprils” at the end of the story when all seems well President Lincoln is assassinated. The story “Across Five Aprils” ends in an unhappy ending, just like in “The Good Earth”. Both stories provide great life lessons and are kind of hard to understand at first; mainly because of the author’s style of writing. “Across Five Aprils” is the only book that comes close to reminding me of “The Good Earth”. The reason why it’s the only book is because I don’t usually read these kinds of books. I am not too interested in the topic. I am more into the action and adventure books, but I have noticed that these kinds of books are the ones that teach great life lessons and you learn a lot more from them.

Alejandro Escamilla
English II Pre-AP
Writing Summer Assignment

What life lessons did you find in the book?
“The Good Earth” has many life lessons and maybe the ones I found aren’t the same as others because we all interpret things in different ways. One big life lesson that I came across was that when things get rough don’t back down and become weak, instead become stronger and push forward. In other words always see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think this life lesson is the best out of the book because it really helps out to think of this when you find yourself in a tough situation.
Another life lesson found in “The Good Earth” is when you are in a bad position always know that you will someday rise out of that hole that you feel that you are stuck in. Wang Lung was very poor and when the time came he bought a piece of land and worked hard on it. Pretty soon he noticed that he no longer was in the same position that he was in a while back. Now he had become a wealthy farmer.
I am glad that I found these life lessons in this book and plan on applying them to every aspect of my life and when I find myself troubled. I believe that these life lessons can help anybody that is having a hard time in life. I also plan on passing down these life lessons to people that I know and hopefully help them in their every day struggles.

Alejandro Escamilla
English II Pre-AP
Writing Summer Assignment
If you were to make the book into a movie, what changes would you make and why?
This book seems like it was meant to be read by a higher age group. If I were to make this book into a movie I would make it more for all age groups so that younger kids may also watch the movie. The reason for that is because I think that the story has a lot of life lessons that should be learned. If younger kids learn the life lessons at a younger age they will really go through every day easier and know what to do when they come across troubles.
The book has many words that wouldn’t be in the movie and many people might say that this is bad because it is not showing the raw thing and what it really was like. But the movie is all about the life lessons and learning something greater than just what it used to be like for the Chinese people back then. I want the movie to leave a lasting impression on its viewers and for them to walk out of wherever they watched it with a different mindset.
I know that if I had seen this movie at an earlier age it would have helped me through my struggles faster and understand why things happen. Then others might say that kids would mature too quickly, but I fight back against that statement. I think it’s better to mature faster than to struggle and not know what to do or how to react when things don’t go in your favor.