Tuesday, March 10, 2015

In The Good Earth, as the family works and begs in the city, what do they think of the foreigners they encounter?

As Wang Lung and his family work and beg in the city, they
encounter many foreigners.  The first foreigner whom Wang Lung meets is an American
woman who hires Wang Lung to drive her in his rickshaw.  Wang Lung does not quite know
what to make of this person--he cannot even tell at first that she is a woman.  He has
never seen anyone who has her kind of features, and he is amazed by how different she
looks from the local people.  When she exits the rickshaw, she pays him double the fare
and tells him that he should not work so hard.  Wang Lung's life has been all about hard
work, so again he is amazed that someone would give this kind of advice.  He also does
not understand how someone could give money away so freely.  As the family continues to
live in the city, they see the market place where many goods are available to the rich
and are shocked that these types of things are for sale.  It is here in the city that
Wang Lung starts to ponder a dream of also being rich.

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