Land in O Pioneers

O Pioneers

Land is the central motif of Willa Cather's O Pioneers! Land becomes a symbol of personal and political empowerment, and it also connects past, present, and future as land is transferred through multiple generations. Land is more than just an "image in the mind" for central characters like Alexandra. Land is linked to identity, family, and livelihood. However, land does serve a symbolic as well as a practical role for all the characters. Land is much more than ground beneath the feet; land is the lens through which the characters view the world. For instance, land helps measure the passage of time: "he years seemed to stretch before her like the land; spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring; always the same patient fields, the patient little trees," (Part IV, Chapter 5). Land serves an almost religious function for Elizabeth, who had "believed in the land" just as her father did (Part IV, Chapter 3). Especially for female characters in O Pioneers! like Marie and Alexandra, land serves multiple symbolic functions as the means by which to transcend patriarchy, the means by which to provide for their families, and the means by which to represent the figurative landscapes of life.

At the opening of O Pioneers! Marie is a "stranger in the country," and her family is described as having come from a far-off land, Bohemia. Therefore, land is a key to understanding both personal and cultural identity throughout the book as Marie's knowledge of the American landscape deepens. For Marie, land in Nebraska becomes associated with belonging, acculturation, and adaptation. Land also becomes an ironic form of liberation for Marie, who is at heart a free spirit. She "ran away from the convent school" to get married, something that likely seemed adventurous at the time (Part II, Chapter 4). Furthermore, Marie fantasizes about traveling as when she envisions what Mexico might look like as she thinks about Emil.

Yet in spite of her free spirited nature, Marie remains linked to the earth. She "sprang up out of the grass again," in one scene, symbolic of her connection with the land (Part II, Chapter 6). The white mulberry tree is usually phrased as being "hers." That same tree also becomes a symbol of her and Emil's love for one another. Land is most certainly connected to Marie's identity and culture, and she is absolutely aware of that connection when she states, "The Bohemians, you know, were tree worshipers before the missionaries came," (Part II, Chapter 8). The land is a grounding force for Marie, who might otherwise lose connection with her culture and her personal identity. Her Bohemian background is sometimes likened to that of a gypsy, as Alexandra imagines her friend telling fortunes in Part IV, Chapter 1.

Land grounds Marie and gives her an enduring connection to her cultural roots. Like Alexandra, Marie also comes to own her own land -- something uniquely empowering for women in a time when females were unable to participate in the political process. Owning land is an important motif in O Pioneers! precisely because women owning land is a political statement on its own. Marie as a free spirit embodies more than just the financial liberation of women, but also the sexual liberation of women as she pursues her love for Emil. Even before she pursued an affair with Emil, Marie left the convent to run off with Frank. Her self-confident sexuality is what helps Marie stand out as someone who literally and symbolically stands her ground. Marie owns her own land, and she also owns her own body. Even as Frank takes away her life, he does so in the most appropriate of spots -- Marie's mulberry tree. Marie lived for that tree, and she dies by that tree in a perfectly symbolic act. Her death by the tree represents her spirit nurturing the tree's roots, as her soul returns to the earth. "Above Marie and Emil, two white butterflies from Frank's alfalfa-field were fluttering in and out among the interlacing shadows; diving and soaring, now close together, now far apart," (Part IV, Chapter 8).

Alexandra's character is completely different from that of Marie, but land plays a similar role in empowering and sustaining her life. Alexandra manages her family estate admirably, which is why her father recognized her as a custodian of the land. She works the field, does not mind getting dirty, and is thus grounded and connected to the earth in a concrete and economical way. Because Alexandra has a more pragmatic personality than Marie, Alexandra does not need the symbolic grounding force of earth in the same way her friend does. Rather, Alexandra is already grounded and the earth is her symbolic counterpart. In some ways, Alexandra might be too earthy. That is, she seems dense and unimaginative in the realm of romance and human affairs. "If Alexandra had had much imagination she might have guessed what was going on in Marie's mind, and she would have seen long before what was going on in Emil's," (Part III, Chapter 2). Yet Alexandra's earthiness remains her greatest strength. She is connected to the land on a deep spiritual level to the point where she understands its rhythms and cycles. She feels "in her own body the joyous germination in the soil," (Part III, Chapter 2). This has allowed Alexandra to profit from the land in ways her neighbors had not been able to do. Throughout most of O Pioneers! Alexandra also remains unmarried, a feminist testimony to the role of land in providing financial independence for women. Her knowledge of the land comes from her having worked it; hard work and not privilege is what defines Alexandra's character.