Chapter 1 in part 5 of O Pioneers is titled Alexandra which is the name of the protagonist of the novel who influences all of the other characters in the story. This chapter is about the period after the death of Alexandra’s brother Emil and the love of his life, Marie, who were killed by Marie’s husband. The opening of the chapter is when Ivar and Signa notice that Alexandra is missing, and figure out that she is at the graveyard. The turning point happens when Ivar reaches Alexandra and she is finally at peace with the tragic event. The closure happens when Alexandra thinks about love and about Carl and believes that she might be better of spending the rest of her life alone. The topics which are discussed in this chapter are related to love, justice and responsibility.
The opening of the chapter deals with Alexandra’s missing which Ivar and Signa notice. The main characters are Alexandra, Ivar and Signa and all of them care about one another although Ivar and Signa serve Alexandra and her household. The two of them have their own life philosophies which are in accordance with Alexandra’s. They are all stoics and accept life as it is. Ivar is religious and he respects the Holy Scripture, but he relieves himself in other ways, like going barefoot. He says: “I indulge them without any harm to anyone, even to trampling in filth when my desires are low. They are quickly cleaned again” (Cather 76). Signa understands this philosophy and both of them are worried about their mistress which is why Ivar saddles a horse and goes to get her. Moreover, there is a storm coming and it is raining and Alexandra is not prepared for that.
Signa is a loyal and caring person who cherishes the fact that Alexandra needs her and is willing to help her run the household. Alexandra’s true nature is revealed in this chapter because her relationship towards the housekeepers can be seen as well as her attitude towards the man who killed her brother. It is also interesting to investigate the relationship between Alexandra and Carl because the way she treats Carl reflects the way in which she treats life and its pleasures. Carl is supposed to represent a pleasant and helpful side of life and Alexandra is pretending to be self-sufficient. She feels guilty for Emil’s death because she feels that she is the reason for which Emil and Marie fell in love. She says: “She was glad to have Emil see as much as possible of an intelligent, city-bred girl like their neighbor, she noticed that it improved his manners. She knew that Emil was fond of Marie, but it had never occurred to her that Emil’s feelings might be different from her own” (Cather 77). Therefore, Alexandra blames herself for this death and not Frank whose action she justifies. Moreover, she plans to visit the misfortunate man because she believes that his fate was the worst and that he was not guilty of anything.
The turning point in this chapter is related to Alexandra and her visit to the cemetery where she deals with her loss. She goes there in order to reliever herself and she manages to find her peace: “Ever since Emil died, I’ve suffered so when it rained. Now that I’ve been out in it with him, I shan’t dread it. After you once get cold clear through, the feeling of the rain on you is sweet” (Cather 77). She needs to feel emotionally complete and she can manage to achieve this only by thinking rationally and visiting the grave. She also reminisces about what happened to Emil and Marie and how she saw their bodies in orchard.
Alexandra also thinks about Frank and does not blame him because she feels that he was the person who got hurt the most. “Frank was the only one, Alexandra told herself, for whom anything could be done. He had been less in the wrong than any of them, and he way paying the heaviest penalty” (Cather 77). This is Alexandra’s way of thinking and it shows how just she is in life. She does not justify the actions of her brother because she is a highly moral person. Alexandra mourns his death as well as Marie’s, but she knows that Frank needs help now because he is still alive and cannot be blamed for anything because he could not have done anything differently. Frank seems to be the real victim although Alexandra has suffered a lot in life as well. However, she tries not to think about herself, but about Frank and his well-being because she feels guilty for his incarceration as well. Alexandra blames Marie also, but she is sorry for allowing Emil to get close to Marie. Ivar and Signa are religious people and they do not believe that Emil would be going to heaven because of the sin which he committed.
There is the moment in the story when Alexandra remembers a dear figure which makes her feel calm and serene. “He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain” (Cather 77). This passage suggests that Alexandra feels best when she goes back in time with the help of her memory where she is protected by her father. She feels her father’s presence all the time and she makes decisions that her father would approve of. He is the moral figure in her life who sets the moral standards although he is no longer alive.
The closure in this chapter happens when Alexandra thinks about love in general and about Carl. The sin which Emil and Marie had committed is not really a sin because it is done in the name of love. Love is powerful feeling and the two of them cannot resist it. It does not help that Marie’s husband is neglecting her while Emil is fascinated by her. Alexandra is not capable of putting herself in another person’s position because she cannot predict that Emil and Marie could fall in love only because of the fact that Marie is married. Her marriage is unhappy and Emil attracts her which is why the tragedy happens in the end. Alexandra has found peace by going to the cemetery and she even falls ill although it is only a cold. Lying in bed gives her time to think about everything and her main feeling is guilt which is why she is thinking about alienating Carl from herself. She believes that life in solitude would be the best for her and she starts thinking about it.
Alexandra is a person who blames herself for everything although nobody blames her for anything. She thinks that she does not deserve happiness since other people lose life because of her bad judgements. This is not true and she is a highly moral person who deserves happiness after having taken care of everybody throughout her whole life. She writes a letter to Carl to inform him about everything new that has happened but she does not write much. “She was not a woman who could write much about such a thing, and about her own feelings she could never write freely” (Cather 78). Alexandra does not allow herself to be a tender woman because she needs to be strong in order to fulfill the wish of her late father who left her in charge of everything when he died. She has much respect for family matters which is why she does not blame Frank when he kills Emil and Marie.
O Pioneers is a novel written by Willa Cather and it is a about a family and the relationships among the members of the family which shape one’s personality and life choices. Alexandra is the protagonist who pulls all the strings and makes it possible for the whole state to be preserved. Her destiny is related to the family land which has to be tamed and the household has to be preserved which requests much struggle.
Alexandra dedicated herself to the family matters and she is trying to take care of everything her parents left behind. Upon the death of the father of the family, Alexandra is the one who leads the family and is responsible for Emil, the youngest sibling. She makes good choices for him and she also makes good business moves which allow her brothers to lead a good life. Alexandra and her family were supposed to live lives related to the land and it exploitation without the opportunity to abandon the land. This sentence depicts the fate of the people living in this area because they are supposed to lead a lifestyle of their ancestors which was chosen for them by the laws of the land. People are supposed to serve nature and not vice versa, but Alexandra changes that as well because she takes advantage of the land and makes it lucrative. She is a very successful business woman who takes care of herself and of her family.
Alexandra is one of those people who take care of their families first and later about their own wishes and needs. She is selfless and she is rewarded for it in the end although some of her closest relatives die. Frank is the person who killed Alexandra’s brother, but she is not angry with him. On the other, hand Marie and Emil die which brings tragedy into the novel. The Divide is an important aspect of the story and she takes advantage of it making it a lucrative business. It often seems as if things which were somewhere else were better, but it was not important for the people who lived in the Divide because it was their land and they were attached to it. The relationship between the land and its people is established and it is very strong and unbreakable. Alexandra leads the household in the best possible way and makes sure to be just towards everybody.
The land is taken care of in the best possible way even though it is not tame or very fertile and need much work and dedication. Alexandra’s father is her role model and she follows his footsteps by managing all of the costs of the family. She is strict towards herself, very serious and she makes all of her wishes come true. Alexandra serves the land and the family because she is the person who inherited everything upon the death of the father. She has great feelings towards the land which she could never abandon like Emil. Alexandra makes a life choice for Emil although he is a passionate person being killed in the end. Alexandra has always shown affection for the land especially since it was showing tangible results for her and it seemed as if the land was loving her back. Alexandra has feelings and responsibilities for the land which makes her attached to it, and there is also love towards Carl whom she eventually marries.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers! 12th ed. Oxford: The Project Gutenberg, 1992. Print.
