Historical Context and Literary Context: The Good Earth

1. Historical Context and Literary Context: The Good Earth

2. Buck’s Writing StyleThe Good Earth--Realism • Novel categorized as literary Realism • Realism was a reaction to the previous literary movement, Romanticism

3. Characteristics of Realism • Presents accurate, detailed representations of ordinary people’s lives • Characters are complex and 3 dimensional • The characters’ complexity stems from who they are as individuals rather than their social positions • The plots are believable

4. Characteristics of Realism (cont.) 5. Plots are driven by the choices characters make rather than by fate or coincidence 6. Writing style of realistic writers—characterized by the use of ordinary language

5. Naturalism (as a literary movement) • Characterized by an objective, almost scientific, point of view • Focuses on how socioeconomic, historical, and environmental factors determine people’s fate • Reflects an interest in the lowest class of society

6. Naturalism (as a literary movement) 4. In Naturalistic novels, characters are often crippled by factors beyond their control 5. Their social standing often dictates the event of their lives

7. Buck’s Viewpoint • Influenced by Naturalism • The Good Earth does objectively tell of the social and economic issues faced by Wang Lung, but it is not a pessimistic novel (thus not making it true Realism) • Buck’s belief in self-reliance and self-determination classifies her as more of a Realist

8. Buck’s Viewpoint (cont.) • Buck is probably referring to the openness she observed in rural China compared to Americans’ Puritan ideals