"The men of the village, therefore looked upon Wang Lung with increasing respect and they talked to him no more as one of themselves but as one who lived in the great house, and they came to borrow money of him at interest and to ask his advice concerning the marriage of their sons and daughters." (p.216) Throughout the course of the novel, The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck, the concepts of paradox and how money can majorly change someone's personal values are displayed; Wang Lung, the main character, becomes the man he never wanted to be-- turning from a family oriented man to an evil, self-centered man-- because of paradoxical wealth. When Wang Lung was a young man, he used to care about his family somewhat-- he was proud to have a son, and made sure that he provided for his family-- and in the end when he is rich, he only cares about himself, his land, and how other people see him. If he didn’t care about his self image so much, maybe he would have learned to love and cherish the moments he spent with his family and enjoy his family, instead of being unsatisfied and having to buy a new wife.
As a member of a family, you should love, care, and respect your family; as a member of a family, you do not replace them with a purchase of a more beautiful person; as a member of a family, you let them into your lives, and deal with any challenges that come with them. Wang Lung obviously thinks of family a different way than any close family today would. Due to the fact that Wang has more money than them, doesn't get along with, like, or care for his aunt, his uncle, and his cousin, he treats them horribly. After the uncle and aunt go over the edge of annoyance, Wang Lung has had it and goes to his last resort, opium. He then takes a trip into town and buys some opium; he gives his uncle and aunt some, and eventually, they find themselves addicted. Addiction weathers your body and can eventually kill you; I find it hard to believe that Wang Lung's mind did not process this thought when feeding his aunt and uncle the drug. When Wang's cousin says that he has interest to be in the war, Wang is delighted-- on the inside, he is stoic on the outside-- and hopes secretly to himself that the young man will get killed, and never come back to disrupt Wang's precious life. If someone is blessed with fortune and a family, they should love them and cherish them, but due to paradoxical love, Wang finds himself unhappy with his family. Just like Wang was blessed with sons, he also had daughters-- one of which was mentally disabled. In the world today, bringing to attention that someone is disabled is wrong, and can hurt their feelings a great bit, but in the early life, it was a fact of life, and they talked about it very openly. They even called her “the fool.” She can't understand the name, and somehow lives a happy, easy life. The fact that her own father makes fun of her-- when he should be loving her-- is yet another example of paradox. Wang is never happy and at peace with his family, but seems to find peace in his land. If someone likes their land more than their family, it shows that they are ungrateful, and they may not even notice the feelings that they are putting forth. "Well I will go back to the tea shop and see if I can hear anything new. There is nothing in my house except fools and a dotard and two children." (p.171) Buck shows how much Wang-- and unfortunately other people in the world-- respond to the blessing of family. Some love, and some, like Wang, hate.
As a wealthy person living in early China, you would visit expensive tea shops every day, just to be with other wealthy people, and look at prettier women; this was one thing Wang looked down on when he was a young, poor farmer. Due to the fact that he is addicted and more wealthy, Wang now visits Lotus--a young, pretty woman that lives at the tea shop -- every night; he sneaks out, and somehow doesn't feel guilty that he is cheating on his wife, the woman who gave him sons. Just like Wang got his uncle and aunt addicted to opium, he now finds himself addicted to visiting Lotus-- so addicted that he decides to buy her, and bring her into his home. He even builds a few rooms for her, so that she would not be disrupted to his family. Buying someone is unheard of, and unfortunately, O-lan, Wang's original wife, has to live with this other woman who is prettier than her. Sooner than later, Wang finds himself buying anything-- jewelry, clothes, another servant-- she wants, anytime she wants it. Although Wang is rich, he should be focusing on saving, and more on his family, but because of the concept of paradox, Wang is wealthy, a good thing, he has to be evil, a bad thing. “Yet when he went into his houses there was no peace. Although he had given his son a wife and although he had bought enough slaves to serve them all, and although his uncle and his uncle’s wife were given enough opium for their pleasure all day, still there was no peace. And again it was because of his uncle’s son and his own eldest son.” (p. 287) It almost seems as if his family doesn't exist, and the only important person is him, and sometimes Lotus. Lotus has become his life; before her he was never satisfied with his family, he had to go to his land to be happy.
When a poor young man wanted to get married in early Asia, you had to go to a Great House; Wang did this, and went to The House of Hwang-- an intimidating place which he humiliated himself in. The Lord at this house right away told Wang that O-lan, his wife-- wasn't pretty, clever, or smart, but knew how to work in the fields and in the house; that seemed to satisfy Wang in the beginning, but now he needed more. It seems as though wives were handed out like candy; that is totally insulting and scary to women today to think that they had to live with a poor man, whose only purpose for them was to have children, sons preferably, and to perform hard work in the fields. As a poor man, Wang was afraid of these people who lived like royalty in the House of Hwang, and was thankful that he didn't intimidate people like they did. Little did Wang know that sooner than later, he would become one of them. As Wang became richer, he became more arrogant, and thought of himself as a lord of his house. Eventually every person that lived in his house had servants, and were living a wealthy life; Lotus had two slaves. If a person has so much money that they become self-centered and arrogant, it clearly proves that money can change someone's personal values; Wang valued his family and saving money when he was poor, but now he values himself and his own prosperity. When it seems as though Wang has all the money in the world, he ends up buying the House of Hwang and lives in it; his sons redecorate it so that it fits their likings, and they even make it seem like it wasn't fancy enough for them. “We must not think we can be a great family because we live in these inner courts.” (p. 309) Although Wang's son told him this, Wang still felt like a king on his throne living there, having all the power in the world. After this move of Wang's-- moving to the house-- he clearly shows that he is becoming the man he never wanted to be, a rich, careless man.
Wang Lung is truly an evil man, yet he still prospers; he has committed many evil acts, but it seems as though after every evil act he commits, he comes out even richer than he was before. For everything he does, weather it is evil or kind, there is an opposite reaction, where paradox is found. After he gets his aunt and uncle addicted to opium, his land dries up from the flood, and he is again able to harvest his crops. If someone becomes more evil with every good thing that happens to him, it clearly represents opposite reactions and feelings between events. “And Wang Lung gave him the silver bit by bit, as he sat smoking and resting in his court, for the silver came in easily from the land at every harvest and whenever he needed it, and so he gave it easily.” (p. 312) Due to all the good fortune around Wang, he becomes arrogant, and spends his money carelessly, freely, and easily-- something he would never even thought of doing when he was a poor farmer. With all his money, one would think that Wang would be happy, but truly, he is never at peace or satisfied; it's almost like a king, hating his job. If someone has so much prosperity, you would think that they would be happy, but instead, he is angry and annoyed with everything in his life.
“But since he was rich Wang Lung was careless, and he was as angry as he liked and he muttered as he walked homeward to think of the water swelling up over his land and over his good crops.” (p. 274) After Wang becomes rich, he turns into a different man. He becomes evil, careless, and displays feelings of hate; money has clearly changed his life for the worse. Although he is living a life of luxury, his attitude has changed from a man who valued his family, to a man who values his land and himself. Pearl Buck displays the concepts of paradox and how money can majorly change someone's life throughout the course of her novel, The Good Earth, by making the main character, Wang Lung, become the man he never wanted to be-- a rich, evil man who doesn't care about his family, but about himself, and only himself.
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