How Does Tom Outland Build Identity In The Professor's House

Dwellings and Identity in The Professor’s House

In the 1920s, when Willa Cather wrote The Professor’s House, America was reassembling the fragmented society that remained after World War I and Modernist ideas were forming a new identity for the nation and its people. The Age of Modernism ushered in a new period that promised to break ties with the societal beliefs that previously brought disillusionment and discontentment, and while some forged ahead opportunely into a new era of materialism and national dominance, other nostalgically considered ancient civilizations as inspirational remedies for societal ills. In the preface to Not Under Forty, a collection of essays, Cather wrote "The world broke in two in 1922 or thereabouts, and the persons

At 52 years of age, the Professor is not only discontent with his family and his professional career, but he questions the value of his accomplishments in light of Tom Outland’s great exploits. As the first person to explore the Blue Mesa and catalog its many ancient treasures, Tom epitomizes an American identity being created in the myths and legends of the Southwest following World War I. Tom’s very identity is enmeshed in the Southwest, his exciting adventures as a cowboy, and his time spent in the winter cabin with its view of the Blue Mesa. Even the Professor’s son-in-law Louie – who never knew Tom personally – heralds him as a “brilliant young American scientist and inventor, who was killed in Flanders, fighting with the Foreign Legion, the second year of the war, when he was barely thirty years of age” (Cather 30). With all of Tom’s accolades, Professor St. Peter feels that his roles as a husband, father of two grown daughters, and a Chair of Renaissance History at Hamilton pale in

Although the Professor’s new house is ready for occupancy, he will not surrender his beloved attic work-room and leases the house for another year. In doing this, the Professor holds onto the familiar space much like those who held on to traditional beliefs and were unwilling to embrace the changing sentiments of Modernism that began taking hold after World War I. Technological progress and prosperity abounded, and part of the Professor’s struggle with his family was their succumbing to what he believed were the detrimental effects of Modernism. As the former fiancée of Tom Outland, the Professor’s daughter and son-in-law had acquires an inheritance from Tom’s scientific discovery. The money they received made them materialistic and deepened the chasm forming between the Professor and his