Willa Cather. O Pioneers!
Description
O Pioneers! is considered Willa Cather's first recognized novel. It tells the story of Alexandra Bergson, who encompasses the "American Dream." Alexandra is a determined, couageous woman with a strong and singular devotion to the land. After her father's death, Alexandra is left in charge of her brothers and the success of the family's harsh prairie land in Hanover, Nebraska. Alexandra sacrifices her childhood, love and beauty to the stretch of plains known as the Divide. She struggles to keep her family together during the difficult times when everyone else on the Divide moves away in hopes of finding better land; yet, through hard work, determination and the willingness to take chances she transforms the wild prairie into a succesful and widely admired farm. Alexandra leads a life of hardship and even though eventually successful, continues to suffer heartache and loss. Alexandra puts all of her trust into the land, which she works with instead of against, understanding that the land is a force of its own, and in return recieves peace, comfort, independence, and tranquility.
Author Background
Willa Cather (originally Wilella) was born in 1873 in Back Creek Valley, VA. Cather attended the University of Nebraska and travelled throughout Europe before becoming an English and Latin teacher at Allegheny High School in Pittsburgh. She then became managing editor for McClure's magazine before devoting all of her time to writing. Her works include novels, short stories, literary criticism, poetry and memoir. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in New York, NY in 1947. Cather is known as one of the most distinguished American writers of the early twentieth century.
Willa Cather's books
Prose: Alexander's Bridge (1912), O Pioneers! (1913), My Antonia (1918), A Lost Lady (1923), One of Ours (1922) (Pulitzer Prize winner!!), The Professor's House (1925), My Mortal Enemy (1926), Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), Shadows on the Rock (1931), Lucy Gayheart (1935), and Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940).
Poetry: April Twilights (1903), The Troll Garden (1905)
Short Stories: Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920), Obscure Destinies (1932), The Old Beauty and Others (1948)
Further reading
Bookclub questions
Plot questions
1. Where does the novel take place?
2. Who is Marie Tovesky? What is her ethnicity?
3. What is the Divide?
4. What language does Crazy Ivar speak? Why are the children so afraid of him?
5. At one point many families move away from the Divide, why does Alexandra decide to stay against the wishes of her brothers?
6. Where does Emil travel?
7. After Carl is driven off the Divide, where does he go fortune seeking?
8. Who is Alexandra's favorite niece?
9. How does Amedee die?
10. What instrument does Emil play?
11. What particular couple is Alexandra referring to when she says, "I think when friends marry, they are safe. We don't suffer like -- those young ones" (179).
12. What is Frank Shabata's crime and punishment?
13. Does Alexandra ever marry?
Questions for book clubs or solitary readers
1. How does the following description of Alexandra forshadow the rest of the book? "His sister was a tall, strong girl, and she walked rapidly and resolutely, as if she knew exactly where she was going and what she was going to do next. She wore a man's long ulster.... She had a serious, thoughtful face, and her clear, deep blue eyes were fixed intently on the distance, without seeming to see anything, as if she were in trouble" (page 5).
3. What is the significance of the quote, "I don't know what is to become of us, Carl, if father has to die. I don't dare to think about it. I wish we could all go with him and let the grass grow back over everything" (page 9).
4. What are Lou and Oscar's main faults?
5. "The __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of every country begins in the __ __ __ __ __ of a man or a __ __ __ __ __ " (page 38).
6. On page 119, it says Alexandra "had never been in love, she had never indulged in sentimental reveries. Even as a girl she had looked upon men as work-fellows. She had grown up in rough times." Do you agree that Alexandra never opened her heart to anyone?
7. "[The stars] fortified [Alexandra] to reflect upon the great operations of nature, and when she thought of the law that lay behind them, she felt a sense of personal security. That night she had a new consciousness of the country, felt almost a new relation to it.... She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that croooned or buzzed in the sun. Under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future stirring" (pages 40-41). Do you think that Alexandra is "in love" with the land?
8. What role does religion play in the novel?
9. One of the themes in the book is the individual versus society. How do you think Alexandra compares to the American Dream? How does her character compare with universal human desires?
10. Do you think Marie and Emil were wrong in following their hearts rather than staying safe and forefitting to the societal norms?
11. Who do you personally feel most sorry for? Marie? Emil? Frank?
12. Do you think Willa Cather gears the reader to pity one character more than another?
12. Do you think Carl loves Alexandra? If so, does she feel the same for him?
13. If you were in Alexandra's shoes, would you have forgiven Frank?
14. Why do you think Willa Cather chose the title O Pioneers from Walt Whitman's poem?
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