Who Is The Flat Character In The Good Earth

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The Good Earth contains a character, a woman named O-Lan, that displays strength and integrity throughout the novel’s entirety. She is the “backbone” of her family and the foundation that keeps her husband and children stable throughout their troubled lives. As her husband said, “she is the Good Earth”. Ultimately, if one were to look closely at the character of O-Lan, it would become apparent that she is a very unfaltering woman mainly because of her devotion to her family and their farm land. O-Lan is a static, flat character throughout The Good Earth. She is static because she does not undergo any major changes in the novel; she stays hard working and devoted to her family while her husband is altered greatly. Also, O-Lan is flat because her dull, straight-forward personality stays consistent. Overall, O-Lan is an unchanging character who has the same …show more content…
Despite the challenges she must overcome with her family and the complications she experiences with her husband, O-Lan perseveres and uses her resilience to ensure her husband and children, along with their farm, stay well and prosperous. For instance, O-Lan continues to cook and provide for her family even though her husband brings another wife into their household. This shows how O-Lan stays supportive of her family through hard times. The character of O-Lan faces one main conflict in The Good Earth, which involves the persistent changing of her husband. This conflict reaches its climax when her husband stops sleeping with her so that he can be with his new wife for whom he holds much more love towards. O-Lan stays stable and displays the qualities that make her a desirable wife and mother by continuing to cater to the needs of the family despite the conflict. Overall, O-Lan must deal with the way her husband has changed and is treating her, and does so by remaining the main support her family relies