The Good Earth: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Lotus pouts at the fact that Wang Lung pays attention to anything other than her. He laughs and tells her that he’s thinking about how to find a respectable wife for his son. Lotus likes the eldest son now, and she tells Wang Lung about a man who used to come to her at the tea house and speak of his daughter, who reminded him of her. He was polite and fair with his money.

Lotus calls Cuckoo in to ask what the man’s profession was, and Cuckoo identifies him as Liu, a grain dealer. When she tells Wang Lung where Liu’s market is, he realizes he sells his own grain there, and he thinks he might actually be able to marry his son to Liu’s daughter. Lotus urges him to send Cuckoo to make the arrangements, and Cuckoo says she’ll go immediately. However, Wang Lung wants to think about it for a while yet, and he makes them wait.

One morning, the eldest son comes home drunk and sick. Wang Lung discovers him, and O-lan washes him and puts him to bed. Wang Lung questions the younger son as to where the older one was, but the boy doesn’t want to tell him, because his brother has threatened him. In the face of Wang Lung’s rage, however, the boy finally admits that his brother has gone out for three nights with Wang Lung’s uncle’s son, but he doesn’t know where.

Wang Lung finds his uncle’s son in his uncle’s rooms, also drunk. He questions the young man, who at first refuses to give a straight answer, but is finally frightened by Wang Lung’s anger and admits that they went to a prostitute (Yang) who lives in the remains of the great house (the House of Hwang). Wang Lung knows that only poor men go to this woman. He immediately heads for the great house, hardly seeing his fields as he walks.

The gates of the house are never closed now, and families of common people rent the rooms. It’s all dirty. Wang Lung asks the way to the whore named Yang, but when he knocks on her door she says she’s not working now. He keeps knocking, and finally a woman wearing makeup opens the door. She tells him to come back later, but Wang Lung says he’s come about his eldest son. He describes him to her, and she remembers the boy and his cousin. Wang Lung tells him that he’ll pay her double if she’ll refuse his son the next time he comes to her. She agrees to the deal, and Wang Lung leaves quickly, sickened by her.

The very same day, Wang Lung tells Cuckoo to go to Liu and arrange his son’s marriage. He watches over his sleeping son, thinking with disgust of the whore. O-lan comes in and wipes away the boy’s sweat. Then Wang Lung goes to his uncle’s room and lashes out at him. When he tells his uncle what’s happened, the man laughs and says it’s only natural. Wang Lung suddenly remembers all of his grievances against his uncle and says he and his family must leave. When his uncle doesn’t move, Wang Lung goes to hit him. His uncle opens his coat and reveals a false red beard and a piece of red cloth. Wang Lung is frightened, because these signify a robber band that has destroyed many people’s lives. He leaves without a word.

Wang Lung finds himself in a more uncomfortable situation than ever. His uncle acts just as he always has, and Wang Lung has to be nice to him for fear of what he might do otherwise. Even when Wang Lung has had plenty of wealth while other people starved, bandits have never attacked his house, though he’s always been afraid that they would. He’d begun to think the gods were protecting him, but now he knows the real reason why he’s been fortunate. He doesn’t tell anyone what his uncle showed him.

Wang Lung tries to be particularly courteous to his uncle’s family, even giving them extra money. He keeps his eldest son inside in the evenings, which makes the boy irritable. Wang Lung considers moving into the town, where the walls protect against robbers, but he realizes he’d still have to come out to work in the fields. He could turn his uncle in to the law, but he would probably not be believed, and could even be punished for being cruel to his family. Besides, the robbers might kill him.

Liu agrees to the marriage of his daughter to Wang Lung’s eldest son, but wants to wait another three years, which worries Wang Lung. He tells O-lan they must betroth their other children as soon as possible to avoid this same trouble. The next morning, he goes out to his fields, and when he passes his eldest daughter, he thinks that she causes him the least trouble out of any of his children. Wang Lung works in the fields for many days, and the land heals him.

One day, a small cloud appears in the south, slowly spreading upward but not moving like a normal cloud. The village men discuss it, worried that it’s made of locusts. Eventually the wind blows a dead locust to the ground. Wang Lung forgets about his family troubles and urges the villagers to fight the locusts. Some say that their fate is to starve, and it will happen no matter what. They go to worship in the temples.

Wang Lung summons his workers and some of the other villagers, and they burn some of the crops and dig moats to hinder the locusts. They don’t even stop to sleep. Eventually the locusts arrive, leaving some fields untouched and eating others. Wang Lung and his men kill as many as they can. Wang Lung’s best fields are left intact and he still has a harvest. Many people eat the dead insects, but Wang Lung refuses to. The locusts distract him for a week, and then he feels that he can live with his uncle until the man dies. He harvests his wheat and plants rice.