Hope that, with good rain, he can work for his own food and avoid starvation. But his greatest advantage is that he has his own land. He wishes for little more in addition to his current life than a family with sons to continue his line after him. Secondly, Wang is very ambitious, though his ambitions remain modest at this stage in his life. He rises early, cares for his father, tends the land, works late and, under the watchful eye of his father, is extremely frugal and does not indulge any luxury. The first is his immensely strong work ethic, deeply instilled within him by the only way of life he has ever known. Fortunately, Wang has a few advantages to him. Though not poor for a peasant, real poverty and starvation is only one bad harvest away. Wang Lung is a young man living in a small village in rural China in the early 20th century with his elderly father. A book I could recommend to anyone, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, its author won the Nobel Prize just six years later, and it is now a safe favourite with me. I knew I would love The Good Earth when I first came across it.
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