Willa Cather s My Antonia And O Pioneers ! - 1919 Words

Success in Female Pioneers â€Å"But Nebraska was not always a bed of roses. When the first settlers arrived, they found a harsh, unforgiving place, a vast treeless expanse of barren, drought-parched soil. And so, summoning up the dynamic pioneer spirit of hope and steely determination, they left. But a few of them remained.†(Barry) The pioneers were expecting the land to work with them, but it was actually working against them. Winters were hard, and many pioneers gave up and left. The few who remained were proven to be strong and determined to force the land to cooperate. In Willa Cather’s My à ntonia and O Pioneers!, her purpose was to show readers that women could be strong pioneers, overcoming the adversity caused by the land, as seen†¦show more content†¦31). After all their neighbors leave, Lou and Oscar want to give up because the land is working against them. The simile compares Alexandra’s brothers to their neighbors to show how they are simi lar to most people but different from Alexandra. â€Å"Alexandra’s relationship with her brothers Lou and Oscar in particular demonstrate Cather’s revision of the female role within the family† (Alumbaugh 37). Alexandra is in charge of their household and farm per her father’s request, but typically the sons would be in charge. à ntonia is compared to a man to emphasize how important she was to her family. Antonia’s family needed more money, so Alexandra worked in the fields with the men. â€Å"All throughout the wheat season, she told us, Ambrosch hired his sister out like a man, and she went from farm to farm, binding sheaves or working with the thrashers† (My à ntonia 85). This simile compares Antonia to a man because she acts like one and her brother treats her like one. The men had to defeat the resistance caused by the land, and à ntonia helps them, enjoying the hard farm work. â€Å"These are characters who chafe under the restrictions of traditional female roles, preferring a greater degree of independence and self-determination. à ntonia, for example, discovers when she works her own family’s farm and when she is hired out as a farm hand for others, that she very much enjoys the freedom playing a male role allows her†Show MoreRelatedWilla Cather s My Antonia And O Pioneers !1464 Words   |  6 Pagessummoning up the dynamic pioneer spirit of hope and steely determination, they left. But a few of them remained.†(Barry) The pioneers were expecting the land to work with them, but it was actually working against them. Winters were hard, and many pioneers gave up and left. The few who remained were proven to be strong and determined to force the land to cooperate. In Willa Cather’s My à ntonia and O Pioneers!, her purpose was to show readers that women could be strong pioneers, overcoming the adversityRead MoreBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 Pagesfamous for his book The Sketch Book (1819-1820) including - â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† - â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) The Leather-stocking seriesçš ®Ã¨ ¢Å"Ã¥ ­ /çš ®Ã¨ £ ¹Ã¨â€¦ ¿Ã§ ³ »Ã¥Ë†â€"Ã¥ ° Ã¨ ¯ ´ (Natty Bumppo wearing long deerskin leggings) - The Pioneers (1823) 《å ¼â‚¬Ã¦â€¹â€œÃ¨â‚¬â€¦Ã£â‚¬â€¹ - The Last of the Mohicans (1826)《æÅ"ی Å½Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¨Å½ «Ã¥ ¸Å'Ã¥ ¹ ²Ã¤ º ºÃ£â‚¬â€¹ - The Prairie (1827)《å ¤ §Ã¨ â€°Ã¥Å½Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€¹ - The Pathfinder, (1840)《æŽ ¢Ã¨ · ¯Ã¤ º ºÃ£â‚¬â€¹ - The Deerslayer (1841)《çÅ'Žé ¹ ¿Ã¤ º ºÃ£â‚¬â€¹ William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) The first important American romantic poet of international