浅析《大地》中阿兰的人物形象

白雪莉  王丹（西北大学现代学院  陕西西安  710130）

Abstract：The Good Earth, which mainly described the Chinese farmers, is American writer Pearl Sydenstricker Buck’s masterpiece. And the novel described the preciously poor peasant, Wang Lung, who became a landowner at last at the end of the 20^th century. But what he had got was closely connected with his wife O-lan, a plain, honest, and industrious countryside woman, who was influenced and confined by the feudal ideology, and had miserable destiny eventually.

Key words：characteristics;obedience; resistance; sense of responsibility; tolerance

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

1. A brief introduction of Pearl Sydenstricker Buck

    Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, an American famous prolific female writer, was born on June 26, 1892 in Hillsboro, West Virginia, while her parents were on leave from their missionary work in China, she returned to China as an infant and lived there on and off for the next forty years. In the summer of 1917 Buck married John Lossing Buck, a recent Cornell graduate and agricultural expert. Her experience in Anhwel would later became the basis for her novel The Good Earth. 

Based on what she had witnessed and experienced, she wrote a book, The Good Earth,  which was published in 1931 and became an immediate sensation. After it was published, Buck got a lot of attention, and became popular all over the world at that time. Then the book remained on the best-seller list fer two years and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Buck received the Dean Howells Medal for Distinguished Fiction in 1935 and the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938. For rest of her long career, she published nearly a novel a year. She also campaigned tirelessly for civil rights, women’s rights, and intellectual freedom. She raised awareness about mental illness and retardation with The Child Who Never Crew(1950) , a book about Carol. After her husband’s death, Buck continued to work on issues related to children’s welfare and went on to write. She eventually died in Vermont because of cancer in 1973 at the age of eighty. 

2.A brief introduction of The Good Earth

    The Good Earth, which is based on the Chinese farmers is the American prolific writer Buck’s masterpiece. And it represents the peak of Buck’s literature creation. In the novel she tells a timeless story that an Chinese peasant, Wang Lung, is very poor and struggles to eke out a living from the earth.  Hardworking and wildly ambitious, Wang Lung and his wife, O-lan, pull themselves out of poverty, bring children into the world, survive famines and floods, and toil relentlessly to build a fortune without ever losing faith in the restorative power of land. Marriages and conniving family members, natural disasters and wars, births and adolescent rebellions, concubines and opium addiction make The Good Earth a rich and dramatic tapestry of life in early 20^th century China. In this novel, Buck described the life in the countryside and town and expounded China to the West by taking culture as a breakthrough point and seeing from the perspective from Chinese people. Land as a bound, this novel reflected the conflict and integration between Chinese and Western cultures.

CHAPTER 2  Social Background and Writing Background

1.Social background

    The Good Earth is set in the early twentieth century, a tumultuous time in Chinese history. At that time, People were deeply influenced by the feudalistic ideas, and the three obediences and the four virtues, and male power system were the most typical.

(1) The three obediences and the four virtues

In ancient China, it is very important for women to know and master the three obediences and the four virtues which are a set of basic moral principles specifically for women. And the three obediences refer that a woman should obey her father before marriage, her husband when marriage, and her sons in widowhood; and the four virtues refer to the morality, proper speech, modest manner and diligent work of women in ancient China; spiritual fetters wifely submission and virtue which are imposed on women in feudal society. It has resulted in a situation that men are superior to women for thousands years and persecute a variety of women’s legitimate rights. Moreover, it also has negative influence on the development of the society so that women cannot participate in the construction of the society.

(2) Male power system

    China was a less-developed country in economy, culture, and ideology at the beginning of the 20^th century, so men were the governors. It refers that men control everything, and men are in the position of authority in politics, economy, laws, religion, education, military, and family in the society.  Therefore, the biggest imparity is the inequalities between the sexes, because male power system is like an invisible hand, which makes male dominating everything and female dominated and submitted. In Chinese traditional culture, male power system has a broad and profound influence. In the society, no matter it is in the political, economic, education and other fields, nearly all of the position of authority are kept to the male, and corn cultural concepts are associated with masculinity. The fact that men are superior to women, which is left over by history and is the conservation of the violence of the wars, wakens and neglects women’s human rights, economic situation and family value, so men are superior to women. 

2. Writing background

In 1840, the Western gunboats destroyed the China dream —"Celestial Empire", and the Chinese traditional cultural system was torn in a state of confusion. The corn question, which is thought of by the far-sighted personage, is that where is the way out for the Chinese culture in modern China. Because of the political, economic and military factors, China’s traditional culture which had lasted for thousands of years, was considered to be under-developed and punk, and even some people wanted it to disappear from world culture at that time. Buck who was influenced by Chinese culture from childhood, saw the flash point of traditional Chinese culture. Although traditional Chinese culture is an integral part of the world culture, western culture is the strong culture, and refuses to communicate with it, so Buck must find out the similarities between them in order to break the culture barrier. Therefore, the fundamental significance of her writing is that she intends to introduce a real China to the western world.

CHAPTER 3  The Analysis of the Characteristics of O-lan in The Good Earth

At that time The Good Earth appeared in the United States, most Americans thought of China as a mystical place. In their eyes, the Chinese are exotic and mysterious and their customs are savages and inscrutable.

1. The main characters in The Good Earth

    In the novel, O-lan was the female protagonist, and had something to do with other characters, which could help us get to know O-lan much easier.

(1)Wang Lung

Wang Lung grew in a poor countryside family, and was happy to plough and sow. He was the protagonist of the story, and suffered hardships as he accumulated wealth and the outward signs of success. He had a strong sense of morality and adhered to Chinese traditions such as filial piety and duty to family. He believed that the land was the source of his happiness and wealth. And when he became an adult, he got married with O-lan, a maid of the House of Hwang. Because of famine, the whole family fled to the south, and led an unhappy and very poor life. Before long, he returned home, because he got some jewels by accident, and bought some lands little by little, because of which, he became a landowner, and everyone called him “Master Wang”. As his lifestyle changed he began to indulge in the pleasure — he purchased a concubine named Lotus. Although he went astray for a long time, he did not forget to devote to the earth.  

(2)O-lan

O-lan was the wife of the poor farmer-Wang Lung. Because of famine, she was sold to the House of Hwang as a maid by her parents. A woman of few words, she was uneducated but nonetheless was valuable to Wang Lung for her skills, good sense, and indomitable work ethic. She was extremely proud that she had married and brought sons into her husband’s family. She was considered plain or ugly; her feet were not bound. Although she was ugly, she was sturdy and industrious. But she was not talkative, and she always helped Wang Lung through hard times. Nevertheless, she was hardworking and self-sacrificing. Towards the end of book, O-lan died due to failing organs. When she lied on her deathbed, Wang Lung paid all of his attentions to her and purchased her coffin not long before her death. Wang Lung began to appreciate her value only after her death.

(3) Lotus

    Lotus was a prostitute who conducted her business upstairs at the tea shop where Wang Lung visited. Although not as young as she first appeared, she was petite and attractive. However, she was vain and lazy, with a sharp temper. Wang Lung became infatuated with her, so she was bought by Wang Lung for 100 silver yuan and afterwards became the concubine of Wang Lung. Eventually she became old, fat, and less prettier from the tobacco and fattening foods.

(4)Cuckoo

Cuckoo was the former cook-general of the House of Hwang who later became the mistress of the Old Master. And then, she was in charge of a tea house, where she acted as a go-between for Wang Lung in his desire to meet Lotus. However, she then came to live in Wang Lung’s house as a servant to Lotus. O-lan cannot stand her, since when they were both slaves in the House of Hwang, Cuckoo did not treat her well, and she was always bullied and insulted by Cuckoo at the House of Hwang. In later years, Lotus and Cuckoo became firm friends.

2.O-lan’s obedient and docile characteristics 

    O-lan was an honest countryside woman and was easy to be controlled by others, so she was always obedient to the House of Hwang and her husband, Wang Lung.

(1) O-lan’s obedience to the House of Hwang

    O-lan is an unforgettable character, and she is a man of sympathy. She was sold to the House of Hwang by her parents as a maid at the age of ten because of famine. And she worked from dawn to dusk everyday. However hard she worked, she was always beaten and bullied by other maids. And other people in the House of Hwang usually looked down upon her appearance and social status so that she had to bear the insult from others and led a miserable life there. She did not have social status and dignity, but had pain and torture. Under this circumstances, she did no efforts to fight against them, but to face the music and she was obedient and submitted so as to survive. Although she looked dull and is uncommunicative, what she did always made Mrs. Hwang happy and pleasant, Mrs. Hwang thought highly of her, because of her intelligence. And Mrs. Hwang thought that O-lan who was a good-tempered maid, can do what you asked well. As to her marriage, she had no idea, when Wang Lung proposed to her, so she followed Mrs. Hwang’s words and arrangement, and did not show any discontent, because it was useless for her, a lower class, to resist, which reflected her consciousness of obedience of the House of Hwang.

(2)O-lan’s obedience to her husband, Wang Lung

After marriage, O-lan was willing to be controlled by her husband, Wang Lung, because she was influenced by the Chinese feudal traditional culture—the three obediences and the four virtues, and men are superior to women. And she was very loyal to Wang Lung, and did everything what Wang Lung asked.  She was very timid and dare not to eat the peach that Wang Lung bought for her, only when Wang Lung paid no attention to her, she can bite it a little. She was depressed and was very obedient to her husband. When Wang Lung wanted to bear away her two pearls that are long-cherished to give them to his mistress, Lotus, O-lan did not know what she should do, and she just tore in silence.  After Wang Lung was unsatisfied with her beetle-crusher and got married with Lotus, who was with bound feet, she was unsatisfied with her beetle-crusher little by little, and decided that her little daughter should bind feet in order to conform to Wang Lung’s feudal aesthetic standards.

3. O-lan’s resistance   

    Although O-lan was obedient to the House of Hwang and her husband, Wang Lung, she would resist against them when she was treated unequally.

(1) O-lan’s resistance against the feudal the House of Hwang 

O-lan was tortured for ten years when she was in the House of Hwang. She had to succumb to all kinds of insults in order to survive. Although she left the House of Hwang and got married with Wang Lung, her resentment and hatred to the House of Hwang has accompanied her of her lifetime. When Wang Lung referred that he wanted to invite a person who worked in the House of Hwang to help O-lan accouche for the first time, she got angry with him. And she did not keep silent but shouted to him that nobody could come here. After O-lan gave birth to her first son, Wang Lung and she dressed up and went back to the House of Hwang with their son. O-lan said that I never saw a maid wearing new clothes like me, and as to our son, the children of the master and the concubine cannot compare with him, because the appearance and dress are not very good. O-lan, who was a weak forces woman influenced by the occlusive environment in the feudal society, had to use something that she thought that can reflect her life value, such as wearing new clothes, giving birth to a pretty son, to return fire to those who ever insulted, looked down upon, and belittled her. Although the resistance strength is limited, and with a strong limitation, the specific resistance of women reveals her resentment to the feudal landlord system.

(2) O-lan’s resistance against her husband, Wang Lung

   Buck reflects upon Chinese women’s issues soberly and profoundly. In her eyes, the primary cause of Chinese women's issues not only lies in hierarchy, but also lies in male power system, and the latter is her emphasis. Men can make important decisions and judgments, and they strictly abide by the doctrine that “ the male advocate outside, the female advocate inside”. Although O-lan was deeply influenced by those ideas, in this small space, there is still a resistance to the patriarchal system in the small space. The resistance was reflected on her husband, Wang Lung, who was as a representative of the patriarchal system. O-lan was always ordered by Wang Lung to do something that she did not want to do, so she just made efforts to resist against him. There is an example, when O-lan refused to offer boiled water to Lotus and Cuckoo, Wang Lung criticized her, and told her that she did not do like that.  After hearing those words, O-lan became angry, and shouted that: “I am not slave of slaves in this house at least, and to that one you gave my two pearls ” ( Buck, The Good Earth, P219 ), which made Wang Lung speechless. So his anger was gone, and walked away with shame.

4. O-lan’s sense of responsibility   

    As a typical countryside woman, O-lan was full of sense of responsibility, which was reflected on her family and the land.

(1)O-lan’s responsibility for her family

As a housewife, O-lan shouldered the responsibility of taking care of her family. However difficult it is, she served the family heart and soul. She attended to her father-in-law, her husband, and her children everyday, and she must do housework on her own, because there was no one helping her, so she had no choice but to rely on herself. Although she was pregnant, there was no exception for her to have a rest, because she needed to cook for her family, cleaned the house, and dealt with trifles which happened at her home everyday. She even bore the great pain to cook dinner for Wang Lung and her father-in-law, after that, she walked into the bedroom in order to give birth to her child. Their living conditions was not good, because they did not have enough money. In order to improve the living conditions, O-lan went to near forest to pick up deadwood and fallen leaves, so they did not buy the firewood from others. Every day at noon, after working in the fields painstakingly, Wang Lung returned home, and there was a delicious meal on the desk. Besides, the kitchen was neat and tidy, and firewood piled up like a mountain.

(2)O-lan’s responsibility for land

O-lan is the representative of the image of the Chinese ordinary countryside women. Being hard-working and sedulous are her typical characteristics. She had a strong responsibility for land, excepting dealing with household affairs, taking care and serving her father-in-law, and raising children. Before giving birth to her first child, a son, she worked in the fields with her husband as usual. Due to her pregnant belly, she bent down reluctantly, and worked more and more slowly so that Wang Lung turned her head to look at her unhappily, because of the cause of the pain of her belly. At first, Wang Lung said that I did not sell those lands repeatedly, but at last, Wang Lung submited to his uncle under his uncle's persuasion. When O-lan heard that in the back room, she went out and said that we did not sell the lands, because we needed those lands and we must plant them when we came back from south. If you wanted to buy something, we can sell our pan, desk, chairs, two beds, bedding and mattress. O-lan protected the lands in this way, and she was a countryside woman, she needed the lands.

CHAPTER 4 Literature Review on the Characteristics of O-lan

Different people have different opinions, so has O-lan attracted many attentions from different kinds of perspectives. They come up with ideas according to their diverse understandings.

1. Litterateur’s review

O-lan is a typical representative of Chinese rural women shaped by Buck. And many litterateurs have expressed their different ideas. When Buck became famous at early stage, many people don't know him very well, and don’t know her life background and experience, so after The Good Earth was published, there are a lot of bad comments about O-lan, a character of The Good Earth. Chen Hengzhe ever said that the character of O-lan was described well, but it was not the real reflection of ordinary Chinese women, because O-lan, to some extent, looked like a robber in the The Good Earth. Ba Jin, a modern litterateur, comments that O-lan is a traditional Chinese woman, who is hard-working, intelligent, and docile, and can do everything to change her destiny. Xu Chi, a senior writer, thinks that O-lan appropriately reflects the image of Chinese women in rural areas, and many virtues are embodied through her, such as perseverance, hard-working, all those are not available to most modern people.  New York Times claims that Buck described a happy China, without any mystery and exoticism, and the protagonist, O-lan actually reflected the beauty of Chinese countryside women.

2. My comments

    It is said that O-lan embodies the real Chinese rural women, and she is the good example of us.  And from the perspective of myself, O-lan is an ordinary person, who has a miserable destiny in the end. She shoulders everything of her family and is always misunderstood by her husband, Wang Lung, but she does not care about it.  She only care about her family instead of herself, so she is selfless to a great degree. O-lan is a very brave woman, who has changed her life and does what she can to improve her social status and the living conditions of the whole family. And she is largely influenced by the Chinese feudal traditional culture, men are superior to women, so she always follows the three obediences and the four virtues ethics, and is dominated by Wang Lung for a long time. However, O-lan has learned to resist against Wang Lung, when her interests are damaged. She has changed a lot through her struggle. As to Wang Lung, one of the typical images of the feudal male power system, he thinks that women should serve the family heart and soul, so he usually regards O-lan as a maid. But in the process of getting along with each other, he has changed his attitude to O-lan, because he has seen the bright side of O-lan. And O-lan’s intelligence and wisdom, and selfless dedication for her family wins the respect of Wang Lung eventually.

Bibliography:

[1]Pearl S. Buck. The Good Earth. Washington Square Press, 1931.

[2]Pearl S. Buck Chinese Women: Their Predicament in the China of Today. [J]University of British Columbia: Pacific Affairs, Volume 4,Issue 10, Oct, 1931.

[3]Pearl S. Buck. Of Men and Women. [J]New York: The John Day Company, 1941.

[4]Pearl S. Buck. China As I See. [J]New York: John Day, 1970.