ipl-logo

Willa Cather's O Pioneers

1316 Words6 Pages

How can love conquer all? Stephen Chbosky’s idea that “We accept the love we think we deserve”, tells us that sometimes we love out of desperation and not out of appreciation. The art of love entices us to yearn for it, to aspire to achieve it in all its greatness. Love changes us, it makes us stronger and more open minded to the world's strength, it enlightens us to all the possibilities and opportunities the world has for us. Maybe Willa Cather, author of O Pioneers! has proven to us that the idea that love can conquer all is indeed achievable, and that maybe love, in all forms, is the key to all life’s difficulties. The characters in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! demonstrate that ecstatic infatuation with the land keeps us united, fosters gratitude, and frames our self-perception.
We all seem to fight infatuation, why, because fear is engraved in our minds, but fear and all that is in our minds keeps us all the same, it keeps us together. In O Pioneers!, the novel begins with …show more content…

Before Carl opened it, he drew Alexandra to him and kissed her softly, on her lips and on her eyes...They went into the house together, leaving the Divide behind them, under the evening star. (179-180)

They finally can live happily ever after in their simple lives. In “The Happiness and The Curse” Cliff Boyer agrees that Cather successfully represented the land in happiness:
Cather is consistent in representing the land as both happiness and curse in her fiction and she deploys the ecological paradox rhetorically, symbolically and thematically. For Cather the land is the source of everything-including identificatory meaning (2).

Boyers interpretation of happiness in love and the land describes how we use the land for everything it is purposed for, the land shows us the way of love, we follow the land, because we love the land. Just as though we follow our lovers, because we love them, and we see all the good in them, as we should see all the good in

Show More
Related

Mammita's Garden Cove Analysis

708 Words | 3 Pages

Despite having an arduous life in Canada, he has in part fulfilled his idea of a personal heaven by living in an urban and developed setting; and primarily escaping the judgments of the apathetic islanders. Yet, this idea of a perfect life is incomplete; it lacks “some sweet island woman with whom he’d share his life, of having children and later buying a house” Many times in life, future gratification in unforeseeable, and occasionally — such as in the instance of Max — sacrifices may result in a sense of disillusioned inaptitude. Within this excerpt of the short story “Mammita’s Garden Cove” by Cyril Dabydeen, the author’s complex attitude towards place is conveyed by Dabydeen’s use of repetition, diction, and

Read More

Great Leadership In Willa Cather's O Pioneers

534 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Comparing Government In Civil Disobedience And The Grapes Of Wrath

1112 Words | 5 Pages

The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream” (p.193). Steinbeck demonstrates these families become one family and they all depend on each other instead of being independent or self-centered. They will help each other, and they will encounter the challenges together so no will feel alone during the process of rebuilds their lives. The readers can view the difference that once Thoreau said

Read More

The Oregon Trail Francis Parkman Analysis

120 Words | 1 Pages

“The Oregon Trail,” written by Francis Parkman is a description of the experiences traveling into the unknown depths of the American west in 1846. The story is told from the first person point of view of Parkman, a scholar from Boston who embarks on the great expedition of traveling into the west in hopes of studying the lives of the Native Americans. His journey is also one of the first detailed descriptions of the beauty and the bounty of a largely uninhabited North American territory. But one of the most critical elements of the story was Parkman’s encounters and recruitment of members to his band of travelers who ultimately play a major role in the success of the western journey.

Read More

The Use Of Three Philosophies In O Pioneers ! By Willa Cather

934 Words | 4 Pages

After a while, they go inside and Cather describes the last scene of the story quite Romantically. She says “They (Carl and Alexandra) went into the house together, leaving the Divide behind them, under the evening star. Fortunate country, that is one day to receive hearts like Alexandra's into its bosom, to give them out again in the yellow wheat, in the rustling corn, in the shining eyes of youth!” As I have said, Cather used Romanticism only to describe the land and not throughout the whole

Read More

Characterization In The Infinite Sea By Rick Yancey

1118 Words | 5 Pages

‘Because love is irrational,’ I tell Vosch. ‘It doesn’t follow rules. Not even its own rules. Love is the one thing in the universe that’s unpredictable.’” (Yancey, 294)

Read More

Analyzing Weiner's The Geography Of Bliss

789 Words | 4 Pages

In The Geography of Bliss, Weiner questions whether the happiness of a country emerges from the abstract ideas or concrete items within itself while traveling through Bhutan, Iceland, Moldova, and America. Throughout his travels, Weiner inquires whether each country’s happiness comes from thoughts or ideas such as compassion, trust, and failure or rather from physical, real items such as wealth. Although Weiner never specifically answers whether happiness in each country arises from the abstract or concrete, he hints, within each chapter, that the happiness of a country comes strictly from abstract ideas alone. During his time in Bhutan and Iceland, Weiner investigates each country’s high level of happiness in relation to their abstract ideas such as compassion, trust, and failure and indicates that the high levels of happiness come from the abstract. In Bhutan, Weiner notices the high level of happiness found within the country and suggests it may be from the compassion and trust of its people.

Read More

O Pioneers Willa Cather Analysis

886 Words | 4 Pages

Among the three philosophies of life: Realism, Romanticism, and Naturalism, people tend to believe in one more strongly than others. After reading Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!” and the poem she named the book after, “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” , I have come to the conclusion that she had more of a Romantic outlook.

Read More

Evelyn White Women

1538 Words | 7 Pages

“Each house-hunting trip I’ve made to the countryside has been fraught with two emotions: elation at the prospect of living closer to nature and a sense of absolute doom at what might befall me in the backwoods” (White 1064). In her essay, “Black Women and the Wilderness, Evelyn White describes her contradictory feelings about nature, and throughout her text, her experiences display a very complex perspective of nature. Raymond Williams, in his article, “Nature” describes the word ‘nature’ as the most complex word in language (Williams 219). When referring nature, people generally think of it representing something of peace, comfort, and a place where most can feel safe, almost as if it were a home. White revises our understanding of nature

Read More

What Is Naturalism In Willa Cather's O Pioneers?

923 Words | 4 Pages

“All the pulses of the world, Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat, Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us, Pioneers! O Pioneers!” Willa Cather’s depictions of frontier life exist as both realistic and specific. Cather grew up on the Nebraskan Great Plains, in surroundings that inspired the setting of “O Pioneers!” This story discusses the story of the Bergson family, who owns a farm on the highland prairies of Nebraska, otherwise knows as, "the Divide.

Read More

The Role Of Transcendentalism In Willa Cather's O Pioneers

659 Words | 3 Pages

Acceptance and originality are keys to prosperity. In the novel O Pioneers! by Willa Cather, the protagonist Alexandra thrives in what seems to be a hopeless situation due to her strong beliefs. Alexandra has the beliefs of a transcendentalist. Transcendentalists rely on intuition.

Read More

Long Hours Figurative Language

969 Words | 4 Pages

This idea also connects to the real world, as it serves as a reminder that people should be open to learning about others and not judge based on preconceived notions or appearances. In conclusion, the quote from "Love from A to Z" uses a thoughtful tone, deliberate diction, and a simile to convey the importance of understanding and appreciating the complexities of individuals. The quote connects to both the text and the real world, encouraging readers to be more open-minded and empathetic in their relationships and interactions with

Read More

What Happiness Is Eduardo Porter Summary

130 Words | 1 Pages

What Happiness Is In the essay “What Happiness Is,” Eduardo Porter states that happiness is a slippery concept. He believes that happiness doesn’t have a specific definition, it means different things to each person. In the essay happiness is broken down into 3 parts: satisfaction, positive feelings, and the absence of negative feelings. Porter says that most people think that money and economic stability will bring them happiness and because of that they will push themselves to do better at their jobs.

Read More

Literary Techniques Used In Philip Larkin's Essay 'Here'

601 Words | 3 Pages

In his essay “Here,” Philip Larkin uses many literary devices to convey the speaker’s attitude toward the places he describes. Larkin utilizes imagery and strong diction to depict these feelings of both a large city and the isolated beach surrounding it. In the beginning of the passage, the speaker describes a large town that he passes through while on a train. The people in the town intrigue him, but he is not impressed by the inner-city life.

Read More

Rachel Carson Silent Spring Rhetorical Devices

884 Words | 4 Pages

In the first chapter, “A Fable for Tomorrow” Rachel Carson tells a short story about a beautiful town in America. “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings...” (Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 798.) Carson goes on to talk about the beauty that was in America when the settlers first built their homes and families. From the numerous birds to the crystal rivers filled with fish, the beautiful scene aids the audience to visualize what America looked like before contamination.

Read More

More about Willa Cather's O Pioneers

Related Topics

Open Document