The Good Earth
. How is Wang Lung now leading the good life?
chapter 2
chapter 2
It should be noted at this point that Wang Lung always refers to O-lan as his woman. She is, above all, a possession for Wang Lung, someone to take over the chores of the household and to bear him children.
On their way home, Wang Lung buys O-lan green peaches, possessions she eagerly guards and which attest to the scarcity she is coming from. O-lan is submissive and obedient from the very moment she steps into Wang Lung's house. The green peaches might represent the newness of their relationship -- not yet ripe. At any rate, the peaches suggest sensuality, and prefigure the consumation of their marriage at the chapter's end.
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