Commentary on O Pioneers

In its first sentence, the novel establishes the kind of symbolism it will use: "The little town of Hanover was trying not to be blown away," the narration opens, personifying the impersonal by positioning the town to stand for its inhabitants. As the incarnated spirit of the settlers, Hanover struggles to stay anchored in the prairie wind. Much of the novel's opening section, titled "The Wild Land," dedicates itself to a description, and more importantly, …

…the measuring of Alexandra's individual agency against the impersonal historical forces that shaped the West. By focusing on the interplay between spirit and circumstance, O Pioneers! proves itself, to some extent, a romantic novel: characters do not develop according to an interior plan, but rather respond to, and are driven by, forces beyond their control. Only after she is shaped by the inexplicable, ecstatic visions of the prairie does Alexandra resolve to transform the land.