Taoists often use anecdotes to describe and present lessons of life. For
example, The Missing Axe teaches that people see only what they want to see.
Another important Taoist story, The Lost Horse, proves the falseness of first
impressions. Similarly, Pearl Buck expresses this idea of false impressions in
The Good Earth. When Wang Lung makes judgments about other characters throughout
the novel, Buck shows how one’s first impressions of others can be wrong. One
of Wang Lung’s first impressions of O-lan is that she is worthless, but after
their marriage, O-lan proves his judgment to be incorrect. When he first meets
her in the House of Hwang, he immediately receives a negative impression when he
“saw with an instant’s disappointment that her feet were not bound” (13).
This negative impact increases when he does not find “beauty of any kind in
her face” (14). Judging only on her physical appearance, Wang Lung incorrectly
decides that she will play an unimportant role in his life. Despite Wang
Lung’s negative impressions of her, O-lan turns out to be one of the most
helpful people in his life. Without her, Wang Lung would not survive through the
hardships of the drought nor the move to the South. He would not have had sons
carry on his name after his death. In spite of the fact that women were
considered inferior to men, Wang Lung later realizes the important role she
played in his life, causing him to weep at her funeral. By the way Wang Lung
changes the way he sees her, O-lan displays how first impressions one receives
from another can be contrary to their true self. Where the Poor Fool is born,
she is called “an evil omen” (47), but in the later years of Wang Lung’s
life, he values her. Since the Confucian philosophy of men being superior to
women dominates his society, Wang Lung considers the Poor Fool’s birth a
disgrace, and did not even “stop to see the face of this small, new
creature” (46). As years pass by and as Wang Lung ages, he realizes his
negative impression of the Poor Fool at her birth were wrong. He finds out that
instead of being a disgrace, he finds great pleasure in spending time with her
and Pear Blossom and “he wished only to sit in his court near these two”
(255). Like Poor Fool, Pear Blossom proves Wang Lung’s belief of her being
useless, incorrect. When Pear Blossom’s father offers her as a slave for Wang
Lung, he is reluctant to buy her for she appears to be a “delicate maid”
that is “small and weak” (205) and not likely to do much work. For the same
reasons, Lotus favors her. To avoid an argument with Lotus, Wang Lung
unwillingly buys her. As years pass, their love for each other increases and
grows into the love between father and daughter. She becomes the closest person
Wang Lung has and “it was a comfort to him now when he saw Pear Blossom was
faithful” (253). Wang Lung’s initial impression of Pear Blossom proves false
when she provides company during later years and eliminates his worries for Poor
Fool. This change from seeing both the Poor Fool and Pear Blossom negatively to
growing fond of them, once again shows that first impressions are not reliable.
Pearl Buck successfully conveys the theme that one’s first impressions can be
incorrect. Not only does this lesson apply to Wang Lung’s life but that this
concept is relevant to us, for we may miss the opportunity to meet friends. Like
the American saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” people should not
jump to conclusions and decide whether people are bad or good from first
impressions.