A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF PEARL S. BUCK’S FAITH IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

          Pearl S. Buck was a learned scholar of English Literature and had studied major British, American, Chinese, French and Russian scholars. She described various socio-political and eco-cultural conflicts in her novels. After getting the Nobel Prize for The Good Earth she continued to write purposeful novels and didn’t follow the theory of art for art’s sake. All her novels are criticism of life and she never revolted against ethical values. As a literary artist, she supported fundamentals of positive psychology such as ‘psychological well-being’, ‘social well-being’, ‘hope’, ‘optimism’, ‘pleasurable experience’, ‘process theories of happiness’, ‘eudemonia’ etc. All these terms have been critically analyzed in this research paper to confirm that she was interested in ‘life’ in spite of all oddities and like Robert Frost, wanted to return to earth as there was no other better place for her. Like Virginia Woolf, she recorded the ‘impressions’ that came to the mind of her characters. Generally, she didn’t repeat her characters in the next novels. She has got to be admired for her choice of lofty subjects and majestic expression.