"The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success." (Dr. Joyce Brothers). In The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Wang Lung and O-lan both struggle greatly with successes and failures, and their decisions affect the well-being of their family directly. By contrasting Wang Lung with O-lan, one can see that O-lan is much more practical, and her practicality leads to success in the family, while Wang Lung's self-indulgence, impracticality, and self-esteem issues lead to failure. These contrasting moments occur throughout their relationship in the novel.
When Wang Lung and O-lan get married in the beginning of the novel, it quickly becomes apparent how useful she is. "... and they ate heartily of the good fare, heartily and in silence, and this one praised the own sauce on the fish and that one the well-done pork..." (Pg. 17). According to Wang Lung's guests, O-lan cooks wonderfully, not to mention her ability to make clothes, shoes, mend walls, and still work the fields. O-lans abilities affect the (future) family positively because she can do almost all types of work, even more than Wang Lung. By taking care of things such as housekeeping, she allows Wang Lung the strength and time he needs to succeed. Almost immediately after she marries Wang Lung, they begin having better harvests, and Wang Lung himself has a more leisurely life. In contrast, Wang Lung shows his impracticality and self-indulgence. "‘I will buy it!' he cried in a lordly voice. ‘I will buy it from the great House of Hwang!'" (Pg. 37). Wang Lung is more interested in his pride and contentment than the well being of his own family. Instead of being conservative in his relative poverty, he decides that he will buy the land from the great house, just so he can say he is rich enough to do so. These two examples of O-lan and Wang Lung's early life together show how practical O-lan is, and how impractical Wang Lung is.
Near the middle of O-lan and Wang Lung's relationship, a famine sweeps the land, so Wang Lung and his family travel south to a city, where O-lan shows how useful she is, while Wang Lung shows his impracticality. "The little boys stared at her, and Wang Lung also. Where had she learned to cry thus? How much there was of this woman he did not know!" (Pg. 71). O-lan shows her usefulness by teaching her family how to beg. Now that they are utterly impoverished, O-lan is nothing but useful. Wang has learned that there is a lot more to the woman he married than what he saw at first glance. In addition, she knows how to make a mat house, and how to cook in it. This helps her family by giving them food and shelter, which are necessities of life. Meanwhile, Wang Lung is worried about his self-esteem, and has no idea where to work. "But the notion of holding up a bowl and begging of anyone who passed continued to distress him. It was very well for the old man and for the children and even for the women, but he had his two hands." (Pg. 67). Not only does he worry about begging, but he, lacking the practical knowledge O-lan has, does not know where to work. Sadly, if he had not found a job, he would not resort to begging, showing once again how his impracticality and self-esteem gets in the way of his family's well-being. These two examples prove once again how practical O-lan is, and how impractical Wang Lung is.
During the latter part of O-lan and Wang Lung's relationship, Wang Lung encounters some mysterious issues with his son which O-lan knows how to fix, while Wang Lung beats down and destroys his son physically and emotionally. "And she said, ‘It is useless for you to beat the lad as you do. I have seen this thing come upon the young lords in the courts of the great house, and it came on them melancholy, and when it came the Old Lord found slaves for them if they had not found any for themselves and the thing passed easily'." (Pg. 158). O-lan proves here usefulness to Wang Lung and his family. Being a slave in a great house, she understands the desires of rich young men, which Wang Lung could never understand, having been raised a farmer. Even though Wang Lung does not heed her advice, her statement is found to be truthful when the eldest son enters into a relationship with Lotus, and calms down almost immediately thereafter. In contrast, Wang Lung has no idea what is wrong with his son, but he continues to beat him anyway. "Now the strange thing was that whereas the boy might burst into weeping at a chance rebuke, he stood these beatings under the bamboo without a sound, his face carven and pale as an image. And Wang Lung could make nothing of it, although he thought of it night and day. (Pg. 159). Here, Wang Lung only makes his son, who is already emotionally distressed, worse. Without O-lan's suggestion, the boy could have stayed in that state for a long time. After considering O-lan's advice, though, Wang Lung decides he will marry his son soon. Once again, O-lan positively influences her family, while Wang Lung deteriorates it.
Throughout the book, Wang Lung's self-indulgence, impracticality, and self-esteem issues lead to the degradation of his family, while O-lan's practicality and hard work leads to the building up and strengthening of her family. Moments of contrast are seen throughout Wang Lung and O-lan's relationship. A family's success is only as much as the amount of effort its members put into it. Without crucial members like O-lan, the Wang family would succumb to the numerous impracticalities and self-indulgences of Wang Lung.
