Water, and the way in which it’s commodified, represents the moral conundrum of the capitalist system. Wong, a water seller, functions as a kind of narrator or observer throughout the play’s action. At the start of the play’s prologue, Wong addresses the audience directly and he proceeds to describe the central contradiction or dilemma of his profession: it is a conflict at once practical, moral, and ideological. As a water seller, the impoverished Wong has resorted to commodifying a natural resource to make his living under capitalism. When water is scarce, he must travel far and work hard but is able to make a lot of money—when it rains, however, he has no source of income (even though his fellow citizens are able to slake their thirst for free.) This central dilemma—that Wong must profit off of his neighbors’ suffering in order to survive himself—provides a metaphorical critique of the capitalist systems that force people to work against one another to simply get by. In this way, water-selling is a small-scale representation of capitalism at large, which Brecht believes is founded upon greed and immorality.
Water Quotes in The Good Woman of Setzuan
WONG: I sell water here in the city of Setzuan. It isn’t easy. When water is scarce, I have long distances to go in search of it, and when it is plentiful, I have no income. But in our part of the world there is nothing unusual about poverty. My people think only the gods can save the situation.
THIRD GOD: Good-bye, Shen Te! Give our regards to the water seller!
SECOND GOD: And above all: be good! Farewell!
FIRST GOD: Farewell!
THIRD GOD: Farewell!
SHEN TE: But everything is so expensive, I don’t feel sure I can do it!
SECOND GOD: That's not in our sphere. We never meddle with economics.
THIRD: One moment. Isn’t it true she might do better if she had more money?
SHEN TE: The little lifeboat is swiftly sent down.
Too many men too greedily
Hold on to it as they drown.
FIRST GOD: Do us a favor, water seller. Go back to Setzuan. Find Shen Te, and give us a report on her. We hear that she’s come into a little money. Show interest in her goodness—for no one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. Meanwhile we shall continue the search, and find other good people. After which, the idle chatter about the impossibility of goodness will stop!
SHEN TE: I want your water, Wong
The water that has tired you so
The water that you carried all this way
The water that is hard to sell because it's been raining.
I need it for the young man over there—he's a flyer!
A flyer is a bold man:
Braving the storms
In company with the clouds
He crosses the heavens
And brings to friends in faraway lands
The friendly mail!
SHEN TE: It was when I was unjust that I ate good meat
And hobnobbed with the mighty
Why?
Why are bad deeds rewarded?
Good ones punished?
I enjoyed giving
I truly wished to be the Angel of the Slums
But washed by a foster-mother in the water of the gutter
I developed a sharp eye
The time came when pity was a thorn in my side
And, later, when kind words turned to ashes in my mouth
And anger took over
I became a wolf
Water Symbol Timeline in The Good Woman of Setzuan
