09.01.08
My Comments on A House Divided
It’s a lazy Labor Day morning here in our house. The boys, including their dad, are all still asleep. So it gives me a quiet moment to organize a bit around here. First thing that came to mind is that I really should return some library books. But before I do that, I’d like to comment on a couple of them. The first book is called, A House Divided, by Pearl Buck. It’s the last of her trilogy, House of Earth, which is comprised of The Good Earth, Sons, and A House Divided.
Like the first two books, I whizzed through A House Divided. There was so much in there about culture and feelings and types of people, that again, I am amazed at Buck’s skill at observing people and making sense of it. The House of Earth trilogy focuses on the family of Wang, starting with Wang Lung, in The Good Earth, continuing with the lives of his sons in Sons, and then continuing on with the grandchildren, primarily the grandson of Wang Lung and first and only son of Wang the Tiger, Yuan, in A House Divided. The trilogy is a type of historical fiction where the story itself is fiction, but the setting is based on historical facts such as the conditions of the farmers during those times, the presence of warlords, the rise of the revolutionaries, and so on.
Aside from the fact that Pearl Buck’s writing style is excellent, I particularly enjoyed reading about all the customs of parts of China, the viewpoints of the family’s four generations along with the changes that took place as the world changed with the the birth of each successive generation, and the personalities and character descriptions. I think seeing those four generations and the thoughts and events around their lives, helps me to see myself and others with a broader view. It helped me to understand and “accept” that while there are some nice things to enjoy in life, some things will likely always remain the same, namely injustices. I think the reason why this trilogy touched me so is because it dealt with some of the issues that have bothered me, namely, the oppression of people at the hands of the very rich.
The concept that stands out to me is that there will always be those oppressed and those who oppress them. Certainly I already knew that, but it was a bit of Buck’s insight that helped reinforce the reason “why.” In A House Divided, Yuan is very sensitive to the sight and knowledge of the poor. There is actually a duality in him wherein he hates that there are those who suffer and have so little or nothing, while others have so much and openly mistreat those less fortunate. Yet at the same time, he hates to see the poor in all their wretchedness and eventually even thinks that the poor should not be in a place where they are so easily seen. The filth and deformities disgust him at times. While Yuan’s heart wishes good for all the people, it is his cousin, Meng, who becomes an active revolutionist. One event in the book deal with a scene where Yuan and Meng were walking along the street when they heard some noise and commotion. Drawing nearer, they found that there was a drunken foreign soldier beating the rickshaw puller who had taken him to the pleasure house. Here’s an excerpt of part of that story:
” He was shouting in his drunkenness and anger and staggering stupidly upon his clumsy feet. Now Meng when he saw how the white man struck the other, started forward and he began to run swiftly and Yuan ran after him. As they came near they heard the white man cursing foully the ricksha puller because he dared to ask for more coin than the white man wished to give and udner his blows the man cowered, shielding himself with his upraised arms, for the white man was large and rude in body, and his drunken blows were cruel when they fell.
“Now Meng had reached them and he shouted at the foreigner, ‘You dare–you dare–!’ and he leaped at the man and caught his arms and pinioned them behind his back. But the sailor would not submit so easily, and he did not care that Meng was a captain or what he was. To him all men not of his kind were the same and all to be despised and he turned his curses on to Meng, and the two would have jumped upon each other then and there in mutual hatred, except that Yuan and the ricksha puller sprang between them and fended off the blows, and Yuan besought Meng, saying in an agony, ‘He is drunk–this fellow–a common fellow–you forget yourself,’ and while he cried he made haste to push the drunken sailor through the gate to the pleasure house, where he forgot the quarrel and went on his way.
“Then Yuan put his hand to his piocket and brought forth some scattered copper coin and gave them to the ricksha man, and so settled the quarrel, and the man, who was a small old weazened fellow, never fed well enough in a day, was pleased to have the thing end thus, and in his gratitude he cackled out a little laughter, and he said, ‘You understand the doctrines, sir! It is true enough one ought not to blame a child, nor a woman, nor a man drunk!’
“Now Meng had stood there panting and very hot with anger all this time, and since he had not freed his anger fully on the sailor it was more than half in him still, and he was beside himself. When he saw how easily the beaten man was assuaged with a few copper coins and when he heard the poor laughter and the old adage he put into words again, Meng could not bear it. No, in some strange way his clean right anger against the foreigner’s insult to his own kind souted and without a word his eyes blazed out anew now upon the ricksha puller, and he leaned and gave the man’s face a blow across the mouth. Yuan saw Meng do this thing, and he cried out, ‘Meng, what is it you do!’ And he made haste to find a coin again to give the man for such a cruel blow.
“But the man did not take the money. He stood in a daze. The blow came so swiftly and without any expectation, that he stood with his jaw hanging, and a little blood began to stream out from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly he bent and picked up the shafts of his ricksha, and he said to Yuan simply, ‘It was a harder blow than any the foreigner gave me.’ And so he went away.
“But Meng had not stayed a moment after he gave the blow. He strode off and Yuan ran after him. When he came up to Meng he was about to ask him why he gave the blow, but first he looked at Meng’s face, and then he kept silent for to his astonishment he saw in the bright life of the streets that tears were running down Meng’s cheeks. Through these tears Meng stared ahead, until at least he muttered furiously, ‘What is the use of fighting in any cause for people like these, who will not even hate the ones who oppress them,–a little money sets everything right for such as these–’ And he left Yuan at that instant and turned without another word into a dark side street.”
I found that little part in the book very interesting (along with other concepts in the book) because it is so true that so many people want to help, but many times, the ones to be helped don’t receive or accept help for one reason or another no matter how hard we seem to try to help. It makes me wonder what is the best way to help people? Perhaps different people need different types of help according to their knowledge and ability? Because it does seem true that there are just some people who don’t know how to help themselves, or even who are not willing to help themselves. What do we do with people like that? I suppose we still need to help them, too. Because of the nature of people, there will always be the poor. Personally, I don’t think being poor is the worst thing in life. I just don’t like it when the poor are so poor that they can’t stay healthy and have the very basics for life such as food and clothing.
In all three books of the trilogy, The House of Earth, it seems evident that even those who try to help others end up inadvertently hurting the very people they try to help or who they originally had pity upon. It’s as if they all started out with good intentions, but the end just amounts to the same of what has been going on throughout centuries. Each generation thinks they are different and better than the previous generation, but essentially they are all the same as history continually repeats itself.
Okay, people are starting to stir here, so must leave off here for now. As far as A House Divided, I give it a two thumbs up. There are actually other concepts in the book that I think worthy to comment on, but maybe later. My youngest son recently read Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. I remember reading those books in high school, and upon discussing those two books with him, I think they also fit in with the philosophy of human nature and the repetition of history. Perhaps I’ll comment on those later. I’m also reading a book called, The Terrible Secret by Walter Laqueur. I’ll probably want to comment on that later, too, ha!
Happy Labor Day!
Marlakins
