A Study on Willa CATHER, O Pioneers!

Résumé du document

Willa Cather was an American novelist who grew up in Nebraska, where her most famous novel "O Pioneers!? is set. It is her second novel, and she was forty when it was published in 1913. Actually, this fictional novel is in keeping with its author's life insofar as the heroine has similarities with Willa Cather. Both grew up in the Nebraska settler country among immigrants from Europe. We may add that her early life in the Nebraska country influenced several of her novels, such as "My Ántonia" and "O Pioneers!? Willa Cather is considered a feminist writer since she created strong female characters that had the courage and vision to face all the obstacles in their difficult lives. We will see that Alexandra Bergson, who is the heroine of 'O pioneers!' doesn't make an exception. The novel begins with the introduction of the four main characters: Emil Bergson who is about five, his eldest sister Alexandra Bergson, her fifteen year-old friend and neighbor Carl Linstrum, and a pretty little Bohemian girl called Marie Tovesky who is the same age as Emil and comes from Omaha. The scene takes place in January, in the fictional town of Hanover, in Nebraska, and the Bergsons are Swedish immigrants. We can say that Hanover is a close representation of the city of Red Cloud, where Willa Cather's family moved to in 1884.

Extraits

[...] Yet, the characters of O Pioneers! Seem to be powerless faced with nature and with forces out of human control. For example Emil is carried by his love: even if he tried to flee temptation, he couldn't escape to it, and it brought him to become a sinner and to die. Similarly, Frank Shabata didn't want to kill his wife and Emil, but he was somewhat transcended and acted on impulse. Eventually, we can add that the two kinds of love represented in the novel consist in another major theme. [...]

[...] The narrative jumps thirteen years later namely sixteen years after their father's death. The rich and wide land described testifies Alexandra's right decision. Actually, this gap in the space-time permits to the story not to be boring and to the reader to realize at once Alexandra's success, as well as Lou and Oscar's lack in judgement. It becomes clear that if they had been in charge of the farm, the latter wouldn't have prospered and they wouldn't have become rich. [...]

[...] Willa Cather holds on to some hope which releases tension, and the reader can imagine a more perfect future for the couple, a future filled with personal happiness. O Pioneers! was at first well received, becoming a landmark of American fiction. Yet, critics found that the structure of the novel wasn't consistent. Actually, they pointed out the fact that Willa Cather wrote two separate short stories, Alexandra and The White Mulberry Tree, which she decided to unify because she realized they belonged together. Like many people, I believe that the major themes of the two parts unify the novel. [...]

[...] She listens carefully to his advice even if her brothers despise him. Actually, Ivar is a religious horse doctor who is a bit eccentric and strange but who lives peacefully alone, in the middle of nature. This character seems to be in line with nature that's why his advice will be good advice. For three years, affairs have prospered, but then, drought and depression hit the country, so that Alexandra's eldest brothers want to give up like many other neighbouring families. [...]

[...] She is so rich that she lives in a big house, has hired six men and three Swedish girls to work for her. What's more, Ivar lost his lands twelve years before so that Alexandra accepts him to become her servant and to live here, even if her brothers don't approve this decision (thinking he is mad and dangerous: once more, they prove to be self-centred). The Bergsons divided the land between them all because both of Alexandra's eldest brothers got married and have children: Lou married Annie Lee, a Swedish immigrant coming from Iowa, and have three daughters (Milly is their youngest and is Alexandra's favourite) ; Oscar married an American woman coming from Missouri with whom Alexandra doesn't get on well, and have four sons. [...]