Three Philosophies In Willa Cather's 'O Pioneers !'

During O Pioneers! By Willa Cather, Cather uses three main philosophies to tell her story. She uses Realism, Naturalism, and Romanticism. Using these three philosophies helps her to create the perfect story between a Naturalistic, Realistic and Romantic view.

Cather uses three philosophies throughout her story, Naturalism one of the three described as the way life actually plays out . From a Naturalistic point of view they do not care about the outcome of what happens they care about the process. As you read O Pioneers, You see multiple times how Cather uses a Naturalistic view during “Complicated” moments or to just use the truth to explain the way life really plays out instead of portraying life to be better. For example Cather writes, “But the great fact was the land itself, which seemed to overwhelm the little beginnings of human society that struggled in its sombre wastes.” The example above shows you one of the many times Cather tells us how life plays out instead of portraying life better.

Another philosophy Cather uses to write her story, Realism very similar to Naturalism. They both tell us the way life actually happens instead of making life more cheery. The difference between the two, Naturalism focuses on nature as a force while to Realism nature is nature. Both use less of a “God” view, but Realism

Romanticism “dresses” life up and portrays life better than it really plays out. Cather uses Romanticism throughout the story to balance the story. She used Romanticism sometimes to make a situation emotional or to show that she cared for the land. For example Cather wrote in Part 1 Chapter 5, “She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the