O Pioneers!

Emil is Alexandra’s youngest brother. He is unique in his family as a second-generation American who owes his privilege to his parents and siblings’ struggles. Emil is too young to remember his family’s hard times, and he largely doesn’t perform the manual labor that helped make the farm an unlikely success. Instead, Emil receives an education and travels, lacking deep roots in the land. His brothers are suspicious of his intellect, highlighting a major difference between Emil and his family. His deepest conflict is that he is in love with Marie, a married woman. Emil’s passion and youth land him in trouble with Marie’s husband, who murders him, making Emil yet another symbol of loss for Alexandra.

Marie comes from a “Bohemian” (Czech) family in Hanover. She is an ardent Catholic but also bold, outgoing, and flirtatious. Though somewhat spoiled and accustomed to getting what she wants, she is well liked in Hanover and enjoys a special friendship with Alexandra. Marie elopes with her husband, Frank, when she is 18 years old—too young to know how mismatched their personalities are. When she realizes that she made a mistake, she holds herself responsible for Frank’s unhappiness. Her attraction to Emil, who has always been a good friend to her, heightens this inner conflict. Marie is determined to make her marriage a success, but she is also a woman held back from fulfilling her desires by the social norms of her time period and culture. Marie gives in to those desires and ends up suffering a painful and tragic death at the hands of her husband.

Oscar and Lou are Alexandra’s oldest brothers. They don’t have the same pioneering spirit as Alexandra, but they follow her lead and toil the land to success. Nevertheless, Oscar and Lou grow up resenting Alexandra for her role as head of the family. They start their own families and extend their land holdings, but they seek to control Alexandra’s personal life and accuse her of spoiling Emil. Oscar and Lou represent an old-fashioned male perspective; they believe that women should be wives and mothers and that too much education ruins a man. Oscar and Lou largely disappear in later parts of the novel due to a falling-out with Alexandra. They are foils to Alexandra and serve to highlight her ingenuity and nurturing qualities.