Hints for Reading Part I of O Pioneers!
1. In Part I, look for characterization and Cather's attitude toward the land.
2. In chap. 1 of this part, Cather introduces us to the four main characters as children and the land they will attempt to conquer.
3. While the first chapter suggests the importance of the land, the second chapter suggests the insignificance of the plow to "record human strivings."
4. What kind of woman is Mrs. Bergson? (Willa Cather knew many woman of this kind who tried to reconstruct their old lives in the new world.)
5. In Chapter 3, we meet Crazy Ivar and Alexandria's brothers. What is Cather suggesting about these contrasting characters?
6. Notice in Chapter 4, what Cather says a pioneer should be able to do. Is this a theme?
7. Notice the effect on Alexandria of Carl's leaving. Why doesn't she give up as Carl's family did? What does Cather suggest about people who don't stick with it?
8. Alexandria has an almost spiritual kinship with the land and a vision of the future that her brothers lack. They are hardworking, but lack her insights. Find passages where Cather reflects these ideas about her heroine.
Note: O Pioneers! was published in 1913, so Cather is referring to the early 1880s in chap.1, a period when the tough sod of the prairie was first being broken up for cultivation and European immigrants were struggling to make a life for themselves in the New World. In addition to being a compelling novel with a strong heroine, O Pioneers! presents an authentic picture of the immigrants who struggled to create a life in the wild and often hostile land of the Nebraska frontier.
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