Great Leadership In Willa Cather's O Pioneers

Many outstanding role models display a strength of great leadership. In more recent years, more women have become leaders and not just men. An example of a recent woman pioneer is Aly Raisman. Aly Raisman was part of the first American women’s gymnastics team to win a team gold medal at the Olympics in more than twenty years. Although Aly Raismam’s full name is Alexandra too, she has many other qualities she shares in common with Alexandra Bergson. In Willa Cather’s, O Pioneers!, the main character, Alexandra displays great leadership, persistence, and strength compared to the Olympic gymnast, Aly Raisman.

Alexandra Bergson was a natural born leader. When both of her parents passed away, she took charge of her family farm as she was the oldest out of the four siblings. Although men mostly took charge of households and farms, Alexandra’s father knew she was the child who would continue her family legacy. She compares with Aly Raisman who was the leader of

Alexandra had multiple difficult struggles on the farm. She had crop failures, death of livestock, and was looked at with disgust as she was a woman who took charge of “male lead” jobs. As Cather said, “(Her) persistence was a fierce necessity” (Cather 1) During Raisman’s time in Gymnastics, her coach, Larry Nassar sexually abused her. Raisman decided she wouldn’t put up with it so she took the case to Capitol Hill and testified in front of the senate about her issues. Raisman was persistent in her beliefs and never backed down. By doing this, she encouraged other women who were navigating through the same troubles to accuse Nassar of his wrongs. As another example to Raisman’s persistence, she never gave up in her career in gymnastics until she retired in 2020. She was “one of the most decorated athletes in the United States- and maybe the world” (Aly Raisman: Mishandling Of Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Adds To The Trauma