“I shall never sell the land”

Wang Lung as a character, has many complexities. On one hand, he really powerless, grasped under his fathers rules and regulations on every aspect of his life. The one other relationship it seems that he should have power in, is his relationship with his wife who he bought from a prestigious family in China, but even then, it seems that his wife has the undermining control. Wang Lung wants to see himself as someone to be feared and respected, when in reality, he is a pushover in many aspects of his life. Except for one. When Wang Lungs uncle and 2 other bank men come to try and buy his land, Wang Lung refuses, denying their continued offers to take it off his hands. In order to keep his land, Wang Lung had to sell everything else he knows. Every piece of furniture in his house, the crops they grew out of their own harvest, and all his farming tools. But he refused to sell his land. This points to a bigger idea of the theme of legacy and family history. This land was once his fathers, whos fathers father owned it and it goes back for centuries in this family.Wang Lung, being the current caretaker, wanted to pass it on to his boys someday as well. Wang Lungs dedication goes so far, he even says “Big by bit I will dig up the fields and feed the earth itself to the children and when they die I will bury them in the land, and I and my wife and my old father, even he, we will die on the land that has given us birth!”. This shows that Wang Lungs dedication to his land goes far beyond his own needs, but that his family legacy will forever be with this land.