How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
Then Wang Lung was scrupulous to do all that should be done for the one dead, so he caused mourning to be made for himself and for his children, and their shoes were made of coarse white cloth, which is the color of mourning, and about their ankles they bound bands of white cloth, and the women in the house bound their hair with white cord. (26.73)
White is the color of mourning in traditional Chinese culture. It's also the color of purity and enlightenment. What do you think this says about death in traditional Chinese culture?
Quote #5
After this Wang Lung could not bear to sleep in the room where O-lan had died and he took his possessions and moved altogether into the inner court where Lotus lived and he said to his eldest son, “Go with your wife into that room where your mother lived and died, who conceived and bore you, and beget there your own sons." (26.74)
Wang Lung seems to be the only person freaked out by death. What's up with that? Is he freaked out because it's O-lan specifically who has died? Has she made him view death differently? Or is it his guilt that is bothering him?
Quote #6
"Now that the joy and sorrow are over, I have that to tell you about the land." (27.2)
Back to nature again, folks: in this book, everything is about the land. Here, Ching is talking to Wang Lung after O-lan dies and his son gets married. It's just a reminder that death, like everything else, is unimportant in comparison to the land. Death is just part of the cycle of life.