In the novel, The Good Earth, many themes emerge. One of the most significant themes is relationship: 1.) the relationship between Wang Lung and his land, 2.) between Wang Lung sand the women in his life, and 3.) between rich and poor.
             The land is the source of Wang Lungs life. He grew up with the land, farmed the land, and lived off of the land. Wang Lung feels that land is the source of his power. To have more land he worked hard and saved up money to buy good land from the house of Hwang. Throughout all the hardships in his life, Wang Lung always returns to his land. Wang Lung starts out as a poor hard working farmer. All his hard work pays off and he becomes one of the wealthiest men in his village. To Wang Lung, "The earth which formed their home fed their bodies and made their gods...bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses has stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth...each had his turn at the earth" (pg.22) brought his family prosperity. Wang Lungs land is the only stable factor in his life. With everything coming and going the land was always his.
             There are three major women in Wang Lung's life. No one more important than, O-lan. She is "the first woman he [Wang Lung] had known" (pg. 180). O-lan was a simple hard working woman who didn't speak much. She was good to Wang Lung. All by herself, she bore and nursed Wang Lung healthy sons. After she gave birth, she even helped Wang Lung farm the land. O-lan did all the chores, cooked and took care of the grandfather. Unlike the other women in the novel, O-lan knew how to fix things and was more independent. She repaired broken pots, made the clothes and shoes, and didn't need help from anyone else. When they returned from the south their home was ruined. O-lan "with her own hands she lashed the mats to the rafters and took earth from the fields and mixed it with water and
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