ouse.”” (p.53) I was happy for O-lan at that moment because I knew thather life would get a little better once things worked out with the land theywould buy. The land foreshadows their good fortune which was not hard topredict. Another moment that shows Wang Lung’s love for his land is whenthey were starving and he still wouldn’t sell the land. “They cannot take theland from me. The labor of my body and the fruit of the fields I have put intothat which cannot be taken away. If I had the silver, they would have takenit. If I had bought with the silver to store it, they would have taken it all. Ihave the land still, and it is mine.” (p.75) This shows his wisdom anddetermination because he knows that the land would someday save themfrom this tragedy. Even at the end when Wang Lung was old and weak hewouldn’t let his sons sell the land. “No--no--we will never sell the land--It isthe end of the family--when they begin to sell the land. Out of the land wecame and into it we must go--and if you will hold your land you can live--noone can rob you of land. If you sell the land, it is the end.” (p.360) On thispassage Wang Lung tries to tell his sons that the land is part of their familyand it shows the strong family ties Wang Lung wants his family to havebecause he knows in his heart that the land is everything that will bind theirfamily together.The book’s sense of reality is another good part of the novel. It’sbasically about poverty and how they coped with it. Wang Lung and hisfamily were starving for a while. “If one had asked Wang Lung, “And howare you fed through the autumn?” he would have answered,”I do notknow--a little food here and there.” (p.71) This particular passage from thebook is somewhat touchy because we know that it really happens in real lifeand it made me wonder how I would ever survive if I were in that situation.“When he wo...
