The book O Pioneers! written by Willa Cather, originally published by Hesperus Press in 1913. O Pioneers! has five parts, each part having their own chapter. It tells the struggles and successes of a Swedish-American farming family that moves to Hanover, Nebraska in the turn of the 20th century.
In the five parts of the book, many things happen to the Bergson’s, the Swedish-American family that immigrated to Hanover, Nebraska in the 1800’s. One wintry January day, Alexandra Bergson and her five year old brother, Emil Bergson, went to town. Emil’s kitten got chased up a telegraph pole, Alexandra then looks around town to find her friend, Carl Lindstrum, who helps get Emil’s kitten down. Emil takes his kitten into the store, and meets Marie Tovesky, a little Bohemian girl. We soon find out that Alexandra’s father is dying, and his only wish is that she run the farm for as long as she can, together with her brothers, Oscar, Lou, and Emil (20-21). Soon after the passing of John Bergson, his children go to visit Ivar, …show more content…
The gender expectations of man and woman were thrown out the window by Alexandra, because she ran her father's farm after he had died, while her brother’s kept up on the farm work outside of the home. Alexandra was put down many times but always proved whoever was criticizing her wrong, by doing what they said she couldn’t do. Some of the hazards they faced as a family, were drought and having to take out loans and mortgages on their house to buy more land, not knowing if the land would be worth keeping. They faced the thoughts of having to move away to another city, or staying with their land in hopes that things would get better. In my opinion, these things put heavy stresses on the family, turning them against each other at
In the five parts of the book, many things happen to the Bergson’s, the Swedish-American family that immigrated to Hanover, Nebraska in the 1800’s. One wintry January day, Alexandra Bergson and her five year old brother, Emil Bergson, went to town. Emil’s kitten got chased up a telegraph pole, Alexandra then looks around town to find her friend, Carl Lindstrum, who helps get Emil’s kitten down. Emil takes his kitten into the store, and meets Marie Tovesky, a little Bohemian girl. We soon find out that Alexandra’s father is dying, and his only wish is that she run the farm for as long as she can, together with her brothers, Oscar, Lou, and Emil (20-21). Soon after the passing of John Bergson, his children go to visit Ivar, …show more content…
The gender expectations of man and woman were thrown out the window by Alexandra, because she ran her father's farm after he had died, while her brother’s kept up on the farm work outside of the home. Alexandra was put down many times but always proved whoever was criticizing her wrong, by doing what they said she couldn’t do. Some of the hazards they faced as a family, were drought and having to take out loans and mortgages on their house to buy more land, not knowing if the land would be worth keeping. They faced the thoughts of having to move away to another city, or staying with their land in hopes that things would get better. In my opinion, these things put heavy stresses on the family, turning them against each other at