This painting is part of The Good Earth Series inspired by the book of the same name by Pearl S. Buck.

Birds in the novel often represent freedom and the contrast between nature and human constraints. The reference to birds devouring the fields during famine symbolizes the vulnerability of human efforts in the face of nature's overwhelming forces.

This particular image of the rooster towering over the hens suggests the natural hierarchy, family structure, and the unspoken balance of power in both nature and human life in The Good Earth.