olan’s-survival-philosophy-in-the-good-earth--英语专业.doc

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ABSTRACT
The Good Earth is the masterpiece of Pearl S. Buck, which mainly tells the relationship between Wang Lung and the earth. O-lan—the first wife of Wang Lung, used to be a slave in the house of Hwang. A woman of few words, she is simple minded but nonetheless is valuable to Wang Lung for the skills she acquired previously. She is hardworking and self-sacrificing. Many of her rights are deprived by the society, but she faces them in her own way and she achieves her final victory to be the biggest winner. By depicting O-lan’s survival philosophy in The Good Earth, Pearl Buck explored the living condition of Chinese lower class women in 1930s, and prayed their good qualities of being strong heart.
Key Words: survival philosophy; Pearl S. Buck; the Good Earth

摘 要
《大地》是赛珍珠的代表作，主要讲述了王龙一家和土地的紧密关系。阿兰，王龙的正妻，曾经是黄家大院的一个厨房丫头。她沉默寡言，思想单纯。但她之前所练就的本领和技能为王龙创造了极大的价值。她辛勤劳作，她自我牺牲。她所生活的社会剥夺了她许多许多的权利，但她不气馁，她用自己的方式去争取，最后成为最大的赢家。赛珍珠通过在《大地》中描写19世纪30年代的中国下层妇女的生存状况，来阐述阿兰的生存哲学；而她的生存哲学来源于她那颗作为女人的强大内心。
关键词：生存哲学；赛珍珠；《大地》

CONTENTS
1. Introduction 1
1.1The introduction of The Good Earth and Pearl S. Buck 1
1.2 Literary review 2
2. O-lan surviving by her influence in the family 3
2.1 O-lan’s role in the family 4
2.2 O-lan’ potential power in the family 5
3.O-lan surviving by submitting to the patriarchal society 6
3.1 O-lan’s submissively accepting arranged marriage 6
3.2 O-lan carrying out the female infanticide 7
3.3 O-lan resolutely bonding feet for her daughter 8
4. O-lan surviving by her wisdom and strongness 9
4.1 O-lan’ wisdom hiding behind her dumbness 9
4.2 O-1an’s diligence and strongness 11
5. Conclusion 13
Bibliography 15
Acknowledgments 16

O-lan’s Survival Philosophy in the Good Earth

1. Introduction
1.1The introduction of The Good Earth and Pearl S. Buck
Pearl S. Buck, 1892-1973, also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu, was an American author. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938.And she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 for Literature“ for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical ”.( Presentation Speech of the Nobel Prize in Literature)However，Pearl and her works were neglected and misunderstood by most of reviewers from home and abroad for a very long time．Nowadays，the cultural intact has become an inevitable trend of the world cultural development．It is in the particular cultural context that we have rediscovered Pearl Buck who devoted her entire life to the Sino-American cultural communication and who held the ideal of “All under heaven are one”.
When we come to give a new assessment of Pearl Buck and her works．We are sure to discover the unique and conspicuous significance Pearl Buck and her works demonstrated．In The Good Earth，Pearl Buck employed O-lan，who tasted the bitterness resulted from the tedious doctrines of Confucianism，to fight against the suppressing and outdated norms and morality；she employed Wang Lung，a hard-working Chinese farmer，with the high qualities of diligence，persistence，simplicity and kindness，to demonstrates the merits of Confucianism．What should be emphasized is that she pointed out weakness and strength of a culture not to prove the inevitability of cultural conflicts and clashes，but to present the cultural...
The paper decides to conduct a survey concerning Pearl Buck’s viewpoints on O-lan in The Good Earth, to discover how Pearl Buck interpreted women’ survival philosophy in a scientific way.
1.2 Literary review
Reviewing the past sixty years of studies on Pearl S. Buck and her works, we find that they involve negation and confirmation，extremity and fairness. We can put them roughly into three phases．In the first phase，mainly in 1930s and 1940s in China, the studies began with first voices of criticizing for the colonialism and the imperialism which would probably be present in her works. Among the critiques, Hu Feng，who criticized the defects of Pearl S．Buck’s works, suggested that the author had not revealed the imperialistic aggression on the Chinese in her representative works, The Good Earth. It was not unique, but had its counterpart with the view from Zhu Xiuxia whose critique had become more direct and incisive．She orientated The Good Earth as a book merely for those so-called higher foreign white-skinned ladies and gentlemen to enjoy their own arrogance，and concluded in her article that Pearl S．Buck was rightly a mouthpiece of imperialistic rulers so as to anesthetize Chinese people with her tricky skills in writing off the cruel fact of the imperialistic aggression on China and its people．The first touch on the studies of Pearl S．Buck's works had inevitably affected the keynote of the following research．In the second phase, during 50’s and 60’s, the research had to extremes of to talon Mrs. Buck gone negation. Concerning the first two phases，we can obviously see that the critiques have，to some extent，been driven by the politics and cultural context of the peculiar time of history in China to an extreme，which had influenced the relative studies for more than ten till 1980s. Then it came to a new stage in which，benefiting from the Opening Policy in our country，Pearl S．Buck has been studied as a living bridge between Chinese and Western cultures in our research field of foreign literatures．For many Chinese experts and scholars，1988，which was pointed out by Yao Junwei in his article about the retrospect of research on Pearl S．Buck，plays an important role in the studies about Pearl S．Buck，since Wang Fengzhen and other seven experts worked together on the translation of The Good Earth Trilogy，which is regarded as a direct effort in promoting new appraisal from Chinese scholars to Pearl S．Buck and her works．Hence，the Chinese version of her other works such as Mother，My Several Worlds，came into being，gearing to the needs of researching and reading public.
In recent years，a team of scholars in colleges has become a stable force in the research on Pearl S．Buck．The research has developed into several new fields including the aspect of comparative literature and comparative culturology by Dr．Xu Qing from the Chinese Department of Nanjing University，cultural relativism by Dr．Yao Junwei from Shanghai Foreign Language University，imageology by Gu Jun from Beijing University, and feminism，theory of prototype and neocolonialism, etc. The global life today has greatly promoted world economy and science to a stage of organic whole. As far as cultures are concerned, we need rich and varied cultures to enlighten our lives．Identical to what was earnestly promoted by Pearl S．Buck, we need the exchange of different cultures as well as the equality and harmony between Eastern and Western cultures. From this point of view，the studies about Mrs.．Buck’s works will guide us to find more clues to advance the exchange.
There are most previous studies of the perspective on the Pearl Buck’s attitude towards the characters. But in this thesis, the regular readers reviewed in a great deal female O-lan’s view. More is to that era Chinese society for women’s great character expressed through their own understanding, rather than simply by the mouth of Pearl S. Buck express sympathy for O-lan, here is mainly admiration.
2. O-lan surviving by her influence in the family
For a long time, women are treated as weak, and are thought to be compared with men. However, no matter in history, literature or in reality, we can always see strong images of women who are even more powerful than men.
In the novel The Good Earth, O-lan is the main feminine character. She is a woman sold to the wealthy Huang family as a slave when she was ten years old. After she marries Wang Lung, she achieves a respectable position as the mother of three sons. She is a strong, hardworking, resourceful woman and a devoted wife. Many people remark O-lan’s image as a tragedy, surely, it is reasonable, but this chapter will say something about O-lan’s strong and quiet power through her tragic destiny. She has made all efforts to build up a home indeed belonging to her and what she contributes to the family has consolidated her position in the family，which has as well trained the woman to be of subject consciousness．
2.1 O-lan’s role in the family
Obviously, women mainly act as the wife and mother in a family. When O-lan lived in the Huang family, she was a servant girl, or more accurate she was just a slave living in a very low class. After she marries Wang Lung, her role was changed. She was not a slave any more, but become a man’s wife. This is a turning point in her destiny.
In a family at that stage, women were always thought attached to men, and should obey them. She takes care of the whole family, gives birth, and undertakes the whole housework. What’s more, she even goes to the farm, works together with her husband. It seems that she is the most hardworking people in the family, and pays out more than everyone in the family. However, the society decides that she is still lower in the family and should obey her husband, because she is a woman. She feels satisfied with the situation; at least, it is much better than the life in the Huang family. It is her survival way, the man changed her role, but she creates an independent life of her own. She gives birth all by herself without anyone’s help, makes cloth and shoes all by her hands. She hides her pain and tolerates her husband’s second wife. This kind of independent spirit and silent struggle is appreciate and admirable. Such women in literary is not a small part. Hester of Scare Letter is also a woman own a strong will who makes a living all by herself; Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind also has a strong heart that never be beat down.
It says that man knows the philosophy of life, but woman knows the life. Women’s wisdom is mortal and close to the practical life and this kind of wisdom often casts man into shade.
“A man need two wives, one for love and another for attach the buttons” then “woman also can say a woman need two husbands, one for love, and another for maintaining the family ”. So never look down women’s position in the family, they act an important role to hold the family’s balance.
2.2 O-lan’ potential power in the family
People always say woman is a mysterious creature. In fact, women’s mysterious is because they always hidden some characteristics, such as their abilities and wisdom. If the power burst out, it will even create a miracle.
“The land we will not sell, surely,” she said, “Else when we return from the south we shall have nothing to feed us. But we will sell the table and the two beds and the bedding and the four benches and even the cauldron from the stove. But the rakes and the hoe and the plow we will not sell, nor the land. ”
There was some calmness in her voice which carried more strength than all Wang Lung’s anger.
When the disaster forces them to leave the place, Wang Lung wants to sell his land thus they will have money to go to the South. But he feels painful, for the land has been part of his life, he doesn’t know what to do. Then O-lan came out and made the decision. In an urgent situation, she is much wiser and calmer than Wang Lung. It is a strong but quiet power.
Women’s power is potential. Such as the Scarlett, she is once a beauty and proud girl, but when they fell into the difficulties, she swears strongly, “As God is my witness; I'll never be hungry again.” Unlike O-lan’s quiet power, it is a strong and powerful outburst, and she makes it as she swears. Besides the strong will, women’s ability is also amazing.
O-lan’s ability meet the requirements of the society, she has done everything a good woman should do in that time.
“Through all these years had followed him faithfully as a dog.”
“When he was poor and labored in the fields himself she left her bed even after a child was born and came to help him in the harvest fields”.
This was Wang lung’s thoughts when he is blaming her. He knows she has no wrong to be blamed, but he still can’t control himself. Is it the women’s tragedy or the society’s tragedy? O-lan’s ability is full of hardships and tragedy, make people feel sorry, but it also shows fortitude of her. In Chinese history, there is also a woman whose ability even can match with the man----Hua Mulan. She acts as a man joins the army, and shows her brave and strong ability in war. Besides, in English history, there also appeared a powerful woman---- Elizabeth. She was once a simple and naïveté girl. Then later the responsibility leads her from an innocent girl to a mature and powerful woman. She proved herself by action, as she said: “I am a woman, but I have a heart as men.” So don’t ignore women’s ability, they also have a heart as man, you will never know when they will show out and change the life.
3.O-lan surviving by submitting to the patriarchal society
3.1 O-lan’s submissively accepting arranged marriage
Arranged Marriage，presided over by the parents，was a traditional marital concept in China．In the late 19th China，romantic love was not part of what husband and a wife expected in a marriage．Marriage was a means of extending the patriarchal lineage．
This was clearly illustrated in The Good Earth. A year before Wang Lung's marriage，his father requested a slave from the House of Hwang for his son to marry．As an impoverished Chinese peasant，Wang Lung's father strictly followed the principle of utility when selecting O-lan. His request was for “not a slave too young，and above allnot a pretty one．We must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children as she works in the fields．”(Pearl S．Buck，1982：10)Wang Lung at first could not accept such a pre-arranged marriage．But his father said：“there remain only slaves to be had for the poor．”(Pearl S．Buck，1982：7) This was the common practice for nineteenth century China．
The marriage process was taken care of by the parents，who had absolute power in choosing a spouse for their children．The children had no choice in this matter but to fulfill their wishes．In a word，marriage was a family matter，not something personal Wang Lung and O-1an lived through hard times of poverty and famine and became prosperous at 1ast．
O-1an appeared to be stronger and more competent than Wang Lung in front of the crises．When a drought resulted in a poor harvest and they suffered from their envious，starving neighbors looting of the 1ittle food，Wang Lung could do nothing but sighed in despair，it was O-lan who resolutely stopped the looting and killed the ox to feed the family when people from the city came to buy their land at an extremely low price，although Wang Lung desperately wanted it，he could speak nothing except stood shakin