The document summarizes key events from Pearl S. Buck's short story "The Big Wave". It describes how before the wave, the people of Deer Island lived as both farmers and fishermen and were close-knit families. It then discusses three families - Kino's family of farmers, Jiya's family of fishermen who feared the ocean, and Jiya staying with Kino after the wave killed his family. Finally, it mentions that the big wave destroyed the town and that Kino's father said the people of Japan should not fear the sea.

1. The Big
Wave

2. Before the wave hit
Deer Island.
“ We need both fishers and
The people of Deer farmers.”
Island lived happily
before the big wave
hit. They were both
fisher and farmers.

3. Kino’s Family Before
the Wave Before the wave hit,
Kino was living
happily as a farmer’s
boy. He lived with
him sister, Setsu, and
his mother and
father. Pearl S. Buck
says that the farming
families in Japan are
very close and think
that they should
cherish family.

4. Jiya’s Family
Before the
Wave
Jiya’s family was very happy as fishers living on the beach with his
windows facing away from the ocean. They do this because they
fear the ocean. Pearl Buck shows that they fear the sea by saying
they face away from the ocean because the Japanese people
understand the dangers and power of the sea.

5. Pearls S. Buck
shows that
Japanese have to
live with fierce
storms and
hardships by the
Kino’s father
saying, “We must
learn to live with
danger.”

6. “We must divide ourselves,” Jiya’s father said. “”If
the ocean yields to the fires you must live after us.”
Pearl Buck wrote this
because she wanted to
show that in the
Japanese culture,
Japanese people put the
children ahead of
themselves. She shows
this by saying all the
children were to go to the
old Gentlemen’s knoll and
leave they families to die.
They did this because
they wanted the children
to grow up and have lives.

7. After the Big Wave
The big wave destroyed the entire town and
almost all of the people living there including
Jiya’s family. Kino’s family was very lucky, they
survived through this terrible storm.

8. “Jiya is not After the
ready to wave
live, we killed
must Jiya’s
wait.”- family he
Kino’s stayed
Father with Kino,
but he
only
wanted to
sleep.
Still Kino

9. “We should not
fear the sea.”-
Kino’s father
Pearl S. Buck shows us that
the people of Japan should
not fear the sea because it is
apart of them. She shows us
this by writing, “ We should
not fear the sea.” Jiya
learned this at the end of the
story and decided to marry
Setsu, live a new life, and
have an open window to the
sea to show he is does not
fear it.

10. The Book
I think that Pearl S. Buck wrote The Big
Wave because she thinks that the truth
should be told about how Japanese people
live and lived with long ago. Problems with
family and nature effect their lives in
different ways everyday.