O Pioneers

Land is the central motif of Willa Cather's O Pioneers! Land becomes a symbol of personal and political empowerment, and it also connects past, present, and future as land is transferred through multiple generations. Land is more than just an "image in the mind" for central characters like Alexandra. Land is linked to identity, family, and livelihood. However, land does serve a symbolic as well as a practical role for all the characters. Land is much more than ground beneath the feet; land is the lens through which the characters view the world. For instance, land helps measure the passage of time: "he years seemed to stretch before her like the land; spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring; always the same patient fields, the patient little trees," (Part IV, Chapter 5). Land serves an almost religious function for Elizabeth, who had "believed in the land" just as her father...
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