As Willa Cather wrote “O Pioneers!” she drew from 3 main philosophies of life, Realism, Romanticism, and Naturalism. While one book or story may adhere to just one of these philosophies, Cather was able to masterfully combine all of them.
For starters, realism gets best described as “A faithful representation of reality”. One example of this in O Pioneers! Would come in chapter 1 of part 1 when Alexandra says "Yes. He is coming over to-morrow. But he says father can 't get better; can 't get well.". This is an example of realism in that she is just saying it how it is instead of trying to sugar coat it. Another example would show up in chapter 12 of part 4 Alexandra says "And now you are going away. I thought so.". This is realism in that she sees his tendencies in how he leaves. Those are just some of the many examples of Cather using realism in O Pioneers!.
…show more content…
One example of this in O Pioneers! would come in chapter 3 of part 1 when Alexandra says "Yes, yes, Carl, I know. You are wasting your life here. You are able, to do much better things. “. This was her over glorifying the fact that Carl is leaving to learn something as useless as Engraving thinking it will improve his situation in life.Another example of romanticism would show up in chapter 7 of part 4 when Emil says "don 't take my dream away!" showing that the characters have dreams and aspirations to become bigger than themselves at that point in
Consequences of Appearance Versus Reality All stories contain the same basic vital elements, such as plot, characters, and structure, but they would not have purpose if they did not have a theme. These messages allow individuals to reach beyond the basic entertainment of literature to seek a universal message that they can apply to their lives. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet and Wilde’s comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, revealing themes are expressed through their contrasting genres. Even though both of these works utilize the universal theme of appearance versus reality to display that individuals choose to not question what is before them, comedy does not demonstrate that this is a mistake, while tragedy exposes its negative consequences.
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
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Paradox and Dream” by John Steinbeck are perfect examples to prove that the American dream is unattainable. This is shown in many different ways throughout both. The Great Gatsby shows it in more of a made up way. “Paradox and Dream” shows it in a more realistic way. No matter how the unattainability is portrayed, it is all meant to have the same meaning.
In the book “O Pioneers!” Willa Cather discusses her views on the three philosophies of life. She makes it clear as to which one she personally adheres, from a Realistic, Romantic and Naturalistic view of the world. Cather uses many circumstances of each type of philosophy. Willa uses Romanticism lots of times in her story.
In “O Pioneers!” by Willa Cather it is easy to see how similar Cather is to her own character Alexandra Bergson, who many of Cather’s own views can be learned through. Throughout the story there are many examples of realistic, romantic, and naturalistic thinking. Realistic thinking may not be represented the most by in “O Pioneers!”, but I believe Cather leaned toward it a little more than the other types of thinking. She had a realistic view of a woman’s place in society and refused to just be a housewife.
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.
He let the reader feel emotion, without him being emotional. An example of this is when Frederick says “The first step, in the wrong direction, was the violence done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the benevolence that would have enlightened my young mind.” This is an example of his formal writing. Another example that expresses that he has the ability to communicate facts without
The nineteenth century was a breeding ground for many literary movements, including realism, romanticism and naturalism. Realism consists of literature that is consistent, predictable, and sticks to the “simple truth” of how regular people live and talk. Romanticism is literature that contains things of intellect, strangeness and remoteness and tries to make the familiar unfamiliar. Finally, naturalism is literature that has regular people in extraordinary circumstances; the hero is at the mercy of larger social and natural forces, which are cruelly indifferent; traces of social Darwinism can be found in the literature and there is generally a brutal struggle for survival. Realism can be seen in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
The first important theme of the American Romantics is idealism. Idealism is a recurring theme throughout the American Romantic times, because the way people of this time felt it was their duty to help one another. Due to the Romantics humanitarian beliefs, many people, such as Dorothea Dix and Horace Mann, stood up for unjust and unfair rules for the betterment of society. The first romanticist to fight for a utopian society was Horace Mann. Mann fought to improve public education which at this time was a huge concern because of how the education system was religious based more than academic focused ("Political and Social Milestones"137).
Butterflies and moths can be interpreted as a lot more than beautiful, flying insects. In O Pioneers these insects are mostly shown as being white in color, this color can be understood in many different ways. Willa Cather uses moths and butterflies many times throughout her novel. There are several legends and beliefs that show how the butterfly is a spiritual being, that represents humans. She uses them as a way to compare the characters to the insects.
One example is when Louie Zamperini, chose to become better than himself that he would go from bad habits to good habits. The book states, “Louie was untamable. In Torrance a rebel was born. If it was edible, Louie Stole it. In the Summer of 1932, Louie did almost nothing but run”(7-16).
Idealism is the unrealistic pursuit of perfection. In the early 1900’s, the majority of people in America were idealistic. Problems of the world were overlooked, making a “sweet, delicate, nicely finished” world (Macy). John Macy was an editor, writer, critic, civil servant, and politician. The majority of Macy’s life was devoted to these passions, including writing works that expressed his ideas.
This explains folk culture very well because of how the story includes a ghostly being. Another element in romanticism is individuality. Individuality is when a person is placed against a group or authority. Freedom is emphasized from tradition and
The authors want their audiences to use these tales and examples as life lessons and hope for them to utilize these sources in their future lives. These two ideas are presented through the use of figurative language, mainly metaphors. In addition, the similar tone of these pieces allows the author to connect more deeply with the readers. Toni Morrison’s Nobel lecture, folktales, and several poems illustrate how metaphors and tone are used to describe experience and caution the readers.
Lastly, another example of appearances and reality in today’s modern day society can be kidnapping. Some kidnapping reports take place because you might meet a person who can display as very nice and nonviolent but in reality all they want is to harm you. Always pay attention to people’s appearances and actions, you can’t trust many people in today’s modern day