Alexandra Bergson: The Ideal Pioneer

Alexandra Bergson would not have been an ideal pioneer in her time. An ideal pioneer, based on film and books, would have needed to be a man who performed hard labor in the fields of his land to maintain it and keep it operating smoothly. Someone who would plow the fields, plant the grain, and harvest it in order to continue living on his newly settled homestead. It is in these areas that Alexandra falls short of being an ideal pioneer in her time. However, Alexandra is still the ideal example of a pioneer. Instead, she fits more the archetype for a business man in New York City in the late 19th century. She is an ideal pioneer because she brings a vital business side of settling land to the mid-west, where everyone else is only focusing on

After spending much time with Carl, her brothers become worried that she has plans to marry Carl into the family, giving him say over the land that they work for. They fret and worry that this land, this physical thing, will be taken away. Earlier in the novel, Cather says that “a pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves” (31-32). This says volumes about her brothers and how they in no way fit the qualifications of a good pioneer. She, unlike Lou and Oscar, has an imagination of what the farm can be and what it can do. She appreciates the land and what she can do with it, rather than just wanting the land as a material possession. It makes the brothers seem more like money hungry people rather than a cultivating settler. It is these qualities that make Alexandra the ideal pioneer. She has the knowledge to run a business and has successful production and growth. She is more suited for the Wall Street scene rather than the dusty Midwest. She is an ideal pioneer and a homestead