In Willa Cather’s novel O Pioneers! Alexandra is unique in her ambition, strength, and independence as a female landowner on the bleak Nebraskan prairie; however, these traits also make her an outsider in a world governed by men. After years of labor and sacrifice, she attains wealth and many friendships; however, her path to success and role has caused her to overlook some of her own personhood, namely, her more intimate and romantic desires. Thus, Alexandra is unable to develop fully as individual due to of the limitations placed on her by the rules of patriarchy and the American West.
To help demonstrate Alexandra’s individuality, Cather provides a parallel character, Ivar, a deeply religious Russian eccentric, with whom Alexandra has remained friends despite her brothers’ schemes to put Ivar away in an asylum. Ivar prefers to live in the wilderness and distrusts civilization. Alexandra not only advocates for the aging Ivar but takes him in when he can no longer make his own living. Many characters complain of Ivar’s differences, but Alexandra accepts him, out of kindness and commiseration.
However, Ivar understands something about self-determination that Alexandra misses during her lifetime of prudence. After Emil and Marie’s murders, when Alexandra is inconsolably wandering the graveyard, Ivar tells the housemaid Signa, why he chooses to live barefoot:
“It is for indulgence of the body. From my youth I have had a strong, rebellious body, and have been subject to every kind of temptation. Even in age my temptations are prolonged. It was necessary to make some allowances; and the feet, as I understand it, are free members. There is no divine prohibition for them in the Ten commandments…I indulge them without harm to anyone, even trampling in filth when my desires are low. They are quickly cleaned again.” (154)
Like Alexandra, Ivar was born with a “strong, rebellious[ness],” but unlike her, he has learned to balance his self-discipline with some indulgence. Had Alexandra embraced such wisdom earlier on, she might have made room to act on her own passions and to not overlook the intimacy brewing between her younger brother Emil and neighbor Marie. However, in the end Ivar’s bare feet seem of little consequence compared to his other unconventional behaviors. It is unlikely that at this time in history Alexandra would have been allowed to pursue both roles of a strong female and male. Thus, Ivar offers knowledge that Alexandra simply cannot access while attempting to assimilate to life in the American West, showing that even Cather considered obstacles to the American Dream.
