Giants Of The Earth Analysis

The United States is often portrayed as the land of great opportunity. Anything can be accomplished as long as one works hard enough to do so. Many people believe the prosperity of immigrants is tied to how completely they embrace this ideal of the American Dream. While often thought of in a modern context, this idea is seen in older works as well. In Willa Cather’s My Ántonia and Ole Rølvaag’s Giants in the Earth, the attitude with which immigrants approach their new lives decides how prosperous they become.
Many immigrants see the prairie as an opportunity, either for their families or for themselves. Immigrants in both My Ántonia and Giants in the Earth come to the United States in search of a better life. They are driven by a desire to …show more content…
From the start, Per Hansa is enthusiastic about the opportunities of the prairie; “‘Isn’t it stranger than a fairy tale, that a man can have such things here, just for the taking?’” (Rølvaag 41). Per Hansa sees the prairie, not as a barren landscape, but as a blank canvas. In Per Hansa’s mind, anything can be built on the prairie provided one works hard enough. To an immigrant coming from a country where little opportunity presented itself, the boundless possibilities of the prairie seem like a fairy tale: unreal and magical. Per Hansa dreams of building a massive estate on his land for his family; “These two quarter-sections would make an estate more magnificent than the kings of old” (Rølvaag 108). Per Hansa’s ambition of creating such a massive estate for a common family is beyond ridiculous in Norway. However, in the United States he has a much better chance of accomplishing this dream; “America, that’s the country where a poor devil can get ahead!” (Rølvaag 219). Per Hansa’s ambition and belief in the opportunities of the prairie drives him throughout Giants in the Earth, and is why he prospers for so long. Other immigrants to the prairie in Giants in the Earth also search for better lives. The Irish who claim the same land as the Norwegian settlers at Spring Creek are searching for a better life, just like the Norwegians. The Irish are not about to let the Norwegians take the land to which the Irish rightfully have claim. The land is their opportunity, not the Norwegians. Still, when forced to relinquish their land claims, due to Per Hansa’s destruction of their stakes, the Irish are not dissuaded in their quest for a better life. Even if not on the land they initially intended, the Irish still find opportunities on the prairie. Both Per Hansa and the Irish see the prairie as a great opportunity, and grow prosperous as a