eases Wang Lung because he knows, "there was no other woman in the village able to do what his had done, to make cakes such as only the rich ate at the feast" (47). During the New Year, instead of going to a friend's house, Wang Lung stays at home with O-lan and both do chores around the house. While Wang Lung "took his rakes of split bamboo and examined them, and where the string was broken he wove in new string" (44), O-lan examines the jars and, If an earthen jar leaked, she did not, as other women did, cast it aside and talk of a new one. Instead she mixed earth and clay and welded the crack and heated it slowly and it was as good as new (44). O-lan is very conservative which saves the family a lot of money, a very valuable quality. During a drought Wang Lung makes a decision to move south where food is available. When they arrive, Wang Lung purchases six mats, and O-lan, Pulled the mats thus and thus, and shaped a rounded roof reaching to the ground and high enough for a man to sit under and not strike the top, and upon the edges of the mats that were upon the ground she placed bricks that were lying about and she sent the boys to picking up more bricks (97). Again, O-lan saves the family money and manpower by effectively making the shelter herself. O-lan is a quiet heroine in this book. At times just so that others around her will be happy, she bottles up her emotions, but when she does speak, it is useful information. On one occasion O-lan was fortunate enough to find some jewels in the wall at the palace and steel a bag of them. She was helpful enough to sell them to help her family. She kept two pearls for herself and kept them in a sacred way until Wang Lung asked for them. O-lan gave them to him being obedient as she was. This was one thing she really didn't want to do but she did it anyway because she was just that kind of woman. She has many talents such as fixing earthen pots and making a roof out of six mats. It...
