O Pioneers ! By Cather Analysis

In her novel O Pioneers!, Cather incorporates all three philosophies; romanticism, realism, and naturalism. I would describe the novel as mainly naturalistic and I personally believe she adheres to naturalism as she took the title from a romantic poem and wrote a naturalistic book. I personally do not like novels written from the naturalistic philosophy because of the cruelness of the view.

Cather incorporates realism into the book at different parts. For example, when Emil dies, Alexandra feels upset, but she accepts the situation and deals with it accordingly by helping someone else. Cather says, “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 was paying the heaviest penalty. She often felt that she herself had been more to blame than poor Frank.” Also, when Carl left, Alexandra accepted what happened and dealt with it accordingly. After Carl leaves, Cather says, “Alexandra has settled back into her old routine.” Cather does not seem to favor realism as much, as she does not use it in the book as often as naturalism and romanticism.

Cather also incorporates romanticism into the novel. When Marie kisses Emil and then he reciprocates it, Cather delineates about how happy Marie

For instance, Amedee keeps working in the field when he gets sick so that he can make money because money matters more to him than his health. When Emil warns him and says he should take a break, Amedee says, "How can I? I got no time to be sick. Three thousand dollars' worth of new machinery to manage, and the wheat so ripe it will begin to shatter next week.” As another example of naturalism, Carl has just returned to Alexandra and he now tells her he will leave. Alexandra says, "All at once, in a single day, I lose everything; and I do not know why.” Cather seems to personally adhere to naturalism as the book seems to definitely favor