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O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

 

            Willa Cather's O Pioneers! provides a unique outlook on western prairie life in America during the late nineteenth century, as the story is told from the perspective of a successful women. While the main character, Alexandra Bergson, gains success from her land, she also faces many personal struggles within a society for which her individual prosperity is not the norm. In this paper, I will discuss the conflict between Alexandra and her brothers, the nature of women and their roles on the prairie, and Alexandra's relationship with men outside the family; namely, Carl Linstrom. Alexandra is the eldest of four children, and the daughter of a Swedish immigrant who perhaps held unrealistic notions of his ability to tame American land. After his passing, he leaves Alexandra the responsibility of caring for her three younger brothers, Lou, Oscar, and Emil. While she holds a close relationship with Emil, the bond between Oscar and Lou is lacking. .
             The siblings have vastly different ideas about obtaining "The American dream". The boys would have been happy moving to "the baking shop in Chicago (pg. 88)" where there uncle works. This becomes clear after the siblings endure a three year drought and no success on the prairie. They express their intentions of selling the land and buying a one-way ticket out, but Alexandra resists. Her intense pioneer spirit and loyalty to her father is unwavering. She believes the land is not the problem; rather, the people are. Her decisions to not only keep the land, but to borrow money in order to buy even more land, ends up being a prosperous one. However, this squabble is the beginning of a long history of misunderstanding and disagreement between the siblings. .
             An argument later in the novel offers a glimpse into the role of women on the prairie. Despite Alexandra's tremendous efforts and ultimate success over the land, her work is trivialized by the men in her life, who even go as far as to say "The property of a family belongs to the men () because they do the work (pg.


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