MERCY AND GRACE LIANG’S REASONS FOR THEIR HOME RETURN TO CHINA AND THE CONSEQUENCE IN PEARL S. BUCK’S THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF MADAME LIANG

Abstract

The Three Daughters of Madame Liang, published first in 1969 is one of the last pieces of Pearl S Buck’s works. It tells us about patriotism. This thesis discusses about Mercy and Grace Liang’s reason for their home return to China and consequence. It is focusing on loyalty and devotion toward her home land. Mercy and Grace Liang are Chinese’s citizens who live in America for a long time. For some reasons, they decide to return to China. This novel is an interesting story because Buck combines the story of a modern Chinese woman who runs a Shanghai restaurant with the love stories of her three daughters. It is a wonderful introduction to the mindset of the Chinese women, both living in China, and America, toward the concept of loyalty and high devotion to one’s home land. The method in this thesis is inductive method; it means the analysis goes from particular idea to the general idea. The psychological approach is appropriately used in this thesis. Psychological approach is used to analyze Grace and Mercy Liang’s mental situation and the state of mind that motivate their action. The result of this discussion is finding the moral lesson from Grace and Mercy Liang’s reason for their home return to China. Nevertheless, not all of the characters are capable to express their loyalty. They have the same vision and devotion to their home land but different consequence at the end. Finally, only Grace Liang, is successful to survive in new China.