In this blog post, I reflect on the significance that Pearl S. Buck—whom I encountered in a used bookstore during my middle school years—and the themes she raised regarding “freedom, happiness, and women” hold for my life and for women today.
In my second year of middle school, when I was brimming with curiosity about the world and vaguely pondering how I should live my life as a woman, I encountered Pearl S. Buck at a used bookstore. It was likely on that day that the theme of “freedom, happiness, and women”—which remains a burning issue in my life today—took root.
Pearl Buck summarized her reason for writing this book as follows: “Men and women can only experience true happiness when they enjoy complete freedom. But before that, it is time to examine what complete freedom actually means and how it can be achieved.”
Born in the late 19th century and having lived through the tumultuous early 20th century, Pearl Buck remains a mentor to women living in the modern world not only because she was a writer and social rights activist, but also because she was an observer who looked coldly and objectively at the world she inhabited. Although she was born in the United States, her life experience—spending over forty years in China and traveling to various places without ever fully assimilating into any one culture—formed the foundation of her perspective.
As the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary, Pearl Buck spent her formative years in China. From her position as an observer straddling the boundary between the West and the East, she could not help but experience everything that others took for granted as strange and extraordinary.
As a result, she keenly observed and articulated in her writing the hypocrisy and contradictions perpetuated in the name of tradition and custom, as well as the psychology and anxieties of fragile human existence. As evident in the anecdote at the beginning of the book, she had a deep interest in women’s lives from a young age. Watching women—including Aunt Wang, whom she was as close to as her own mother, and others who walked long distances to confide their tragic stories—she fatefully accepted the fact that she, too, was a woman like them.
However, the women Pearl Buck observed were not merely beautiful. While there were certainly women who contributed to society by exercising their exceptional talents, the majority of women at the time were content to remain in the home, relying on social conventions. Pearl Buck was outraged by the attitude of these women, who had ceased to think creatively and remained consistently indifferent to the society in which they lived. She believed that women were special beings with both the duty and the right to live better lives.
Even women who had entered the workforce and were making a unique mark on society could not escape her sharp gaze. Pearl Buck accurately portrayed a type of woman one might encounter in a 21st-century corporation. Descriptions such as “even the humor she employed to defuse a stiff atmosphere gave the impression of being deliberately contrived” or “even her cheerful demeanor felt unnatural, as if it had been polished through effort rather than flowing from her character” resonate with the subtle feelings we often have toward socially successful women today.
Furthermore, whenever I encounter the observation that women who have triumphed over their male competitors increasingly harbor feelings of loneliness and anxiety, I am reminded anew of what a keen observer she was. Nevertheless, all of Pearl Buck’s criticism stemmed from compassion and deep understanding. She gazed upon women—those who felt guilty for failing to properly care for their husbands and children despite their great social achievements, and those whose talents and abilities actually brought them unhappiness—with deeper compassion than anyone else.
And by meticulously exposing the barbarity of a society that relentlessly drives women into unhappiness, she reminded us that the reason they feel unhappy is not “because they are women.” She emphasized the need to affirm womanhood itself.
This book was written around the time of World War II, when Japanese militarism and German fascism were at their height. I believe that her writings, which explored how women should live in a rapidly changing world, still offer valuable insights to Korean women today, who find themselves in the shadow of globalization and under the pressure of endless competition. Therefore, I hope that modern women and future generations of women will affirm their very existence and live their lives enjoying true happiness.
