'The Times Have Changed': American Self-Discovery in Pearl S Buck's East Wind West Wind

Abstract

East Wind West Wind registers the coming of age of Chinese women as seen with Western eyes. Buck’s novel deals with the clash of two ideologies: the Chinese tradition, which assigned a specific and very limited role to women in society and promoted submission, and the Western world, which is epitomized in multiple ways in the story. The image of 1920s American society as a liberating force is perceived in the relationship with the husband and the daughter-in-law representing alterity and sorority at the same time. Buck makes her political allegiance to the West explicit and East Wind West Wind showcases how the Western world helps the protagonist to know herself better and to accept herself.