After Wang Lung has somewhat abated his infatuation for Lotus Flower, he is able to return to the land and is "healed of his sickness of love by the good dark earth . . . soft as black sugar . . . and the health of the earth spread into his flesh and he was healed of his sickness." Again, Pearl Buck is emphasizing the powers of the "good earth" to heal Wang Lung and to remind the reader that, when one loses close contact with the "good earth," one is in danger of losing contact with the good qualities of life itself. For example, Wang Lung goes out and eats garlic, an act which would immediately identify him as a plain farmer and a crude person. Yet he laughs about it and decides that he can eat whatever he likes. He is no longer dismayed that people smell garlic on his breath and refer to him in derogatory terms because he is "full of health again and free of the sickness of his love."
As is fitting for a man of Wang Lung's wealth, he is now established in his own rank so that he can place his women in their proper positions — Lotus is his concubine who is to give him pleasure in bed, and O-lan is his wife who has borne him children so as to continue the line of the House of Wang. Also, note that Wang Lung has always been a person who is concerned about the opinion of other people; now, he takes pleasure that the men of the town are talking about him and come to him to hear his opinion about various matters and accept his decisions. Furthermore, he is pleased that the men of the town admire him because he has sufficient money to have a concubine for his own pleasure and to have his sons educated so that they can read and write the Chinese characters.
Chapter 22 also informs the reader that the House of Wang is becoming an important and influential house since even O-lan notes that the eldest son is acting much like one of the young lords in the old House of Hwang, where she was a slave. This comment attests to the rise of Wang Lung: his wife, who was once a slave, is now the mother of sons who conduct themselves like young lords. The young people are growing further and further away from the "good earth."
