Willa Cather – from O Pioneers! and "A Wagner Matinée"

Willa Cather grew up on a prairie, and that reflects on her writing (Cather). In the beginning of her career, she wrote many works that portrayed the prairies as horrible places to live (Cather). She hated her prairie life, and that hatred was reflected upon all of her literary works (Cather). Later in her life, she changed her point of view and started portraying life on the prairie as a good thing (Cather). She realized that although life on the prairie was difficult, it helped her to become a stronger woman (Cather). The prairie called to ambitious people; Those ambitious people had to be creative to survive (Cather).

In a way, this work was partially that of Realism because they referred to historical events and facts that impacted Cather's present day situation. The point of view was not a scientific one, which rules out Naturalism. This work also displays characteristics of Regionalism because the main focus of the piece of literature was about life on the prairie and the culture of the West (Cather). In the beginning of her work, Cather described all of the hard times on the prairie, and the tragedies that befell many of the pioneers that traveled west. Later in her work, Cather wrote about all the joyful moments on the prairie instead of the sad ones (Cather). She began to promote the prairie as a nice place to live, which reflects Regionalism (Cather). This portrayed society of the time because they still had mixed feelings about the prairies. People did not know what to think about the prairie, and sometimes that feeling of uneasiness can cause people to make quick judgements. These works did not mention religion or government, partially because when one lives on the prairie in isolation from the rest of society, one tends not to care. Both ofCather's works discuss nature and how the prairie is a bleak landscape that is one color: brown (Cather). Cather talks about how life on the prairie can be difficult due to droughts or excessive rain (Cather). Weather on the prairie was unpredictable. It was hard to predict whether or not the crops would do well due to this fact.

Human nature was not brought up often in these works, but it was implied that when one lives on the prairie, human nature becomes questionable (Cather). These works talk about the American Dream of expansionism and obtaining everything one could ever want (Cather). There were no figurative languages in the works because they were both very straightforward (Cather). There was also not a Hero in either of these works, for there was really not a position for a Hero (Cather). Willa Cather was an influential author who wrote about her life on the prairie, and many people are inspired by her works.

Cather, Willa. ""O Pioneers!"/ "A Wagner Matinée"" American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 489+. Print.