The Sacredness of the Land

The main theme of O Pioneers! is man's relationship to the land, in particular, a land that is unforgiving. Some of the characters such as Lou and Oscar Bergson and their father set themselves up in an adversary relationship with the land. They don't love the land; they only own it. Everything about farming becomes a major struggle against nature. They may die young or eventually have to give up farming because the struggle becomes too difficult.

On the other hand, the characters that learn to love nature and live in harmony with the land are those who triumph in the story. Alexandra learns to let the land make her rich by not struggling against it. The climax of her story as a farmer comes the moment she realizes that she belongs to the land and not vice versa. She later says that there...