REVIEW (ULASAN NOVEL) O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

"A pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves."

O Pioneers! is a profoundly feminist novel that was published in 1913 by American author, Willa Cather. This is the first book from the Great Plains Trilogy series, one pack with The Song of The Lark and My Antonia. This book refers to many northern European immigrants who traveled to settle in Nebraska. Pioneers means the first generation who first owned the wild land, which means the land is free. Instead of succeeding in their new land by farming, many of them failed to conquer it. It's because they have no experience of farming, and basically many of them come from the working class and didn't know how to manage the prairie. But, many of them become successful landowners.

Alexandra Bergson, the protagonist of this novel, promised her father on his deathbed to manage the praire which her father failed. She lived along with her brother, Lou, Oscar and little Emil Bergson. She works and toils through the prime years of her life. When her brother lacked foresight and judgement, she could take on the role of a patriarch, making critical decisions about the land, labor and finance.

The feeling of being at one with nature makes Alexandra ignore her personal feelings. The land for her is much more than just physical space. She has a deep emotional and almost spiritual connection to the land. The land became her identity, and her responsibility to future generations.

"The land belongs to the future, Carl; that’s the way it seems to me. How many of the names on the county clerk’s plat will be there in fifty years? I might as well try to will the sunset over there to my brother’s children. We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it—for a little while.” (Alexandra)

I like it when the novel is like a super account of human life from the past. A book like this is more than just reading. We not only see the point of view of people who struggle through life and their way of living, but also the depiction of places, the landscape and the circumstances. Willa Cather is the brilliant author who wrote the very first account of The Great Plains of America.

https://nebraskastudies.org/en/1850-1874/who-were-the-settlers-who-was-daniel-freeman/the-immigrant-experience/

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬✬(4/5)

Title : O Pioneers!

Author : Willa Cather
Publisher : Book-of-the-Month Club
Year : 1995 (First Published in 1913)
Format /Pages : Hardcover / 309 pages
ISBN : 9780739433249