O Pioneer! essay, contains spoilers!!!

O Pioneers! is the story of Alexandra Bergson, a woman who inherits her family farm in 1883 much to the consternation of her two bothers. Alexandra is a strong willed and determined woman who develops a tremendous vision of the future of the Nebraska Prairie. She is fiercely independent and clear-headed which helps her to become a wealthy land owner despite her brothers.
The book begins with a bleak description of the prairie in which the story takes place and the four main characters are introduced; Alexandra and Emil Bergson, Carl Linstrum, and Marie Tovesky (later Shabata). The first three are heading to their homes outside of town known as the Divide. Once home, Alexandra’s dieing father informs her and her two younger brothers, Lou and Oscar, that he is leaving Alexandra in charge of the family farm and they are to let her lead them. He wants her to continue what he has started by immigrating to America from Sweden and building the farm they live on..
Alexandra proves that her father made a good decision when he chose her to take over within three years of his death. There is a major drought and depression that happen and her resolve allows her to persevere when many of her neighbors give up and sell their farms cheap, and move back to the cities. This includes her good friend and bordering neighbors,. Carl and his family. The news that they are leaving hits Alexandra hard and she takes a deep look at the situation and makes a determination, against her brothers’ wishes, to go into debt to purchase some the neighboring farms that are being sold in hopes that some day the land will be profitable.
The story skips forward sixteen years. Alexandra was right. The land began to produce after the people learned how to farm it right and her and her brothers are quite wealthy. Emil who is fifteen years younger than Alexandra returns home from college with plans to go to law school. Alexandra has very high hopes for him and looks forward to what he will accomplish by not being strapped to the farm like his brothers and sister. We are re-introduced to a now grown up and married Marie. She is a beautiful, lively girl whom everyone likes, but her husband is a proud man who is not very well liked. He is insanely jealous of her and is always suspicious.
Carl returns to visit on his way to Alaska for a few weeks. Alexandra and Carl pick their relationship up as if no time had passed. Marie reveals how unhappy she is in her marriage and it becomes clear that she and Emil are beginning to fall in love with each other, but she is a very devout Catholic and will not compromise herself. Emil tells Alexandra that he is going to take a year off from school and spend some time in Mexico. Oscar and Lou confront Alexandra and Carl about their own developing relationship and their fears about Carl taking control of Alexandra‘s‘ land. Carl ends up leaving right away for Alaska and Alexandra and her brothers make a permanent separation from each other.
A year later Emil returns from Mexico. Everyone involved is more unhappy than the year before and there seems no hope of that changing. Emil and Marie find that their separation has not diminished their love, only made it stronger. They finally talk about it and he decides to move permanently away to Boston. Before he can leave his best friend Amedee dies from a burst appendix. While at Mass Emil begins to understand and be reconciled to the fact that he really needs to leave and goes to say good-bye to Marie for the last time.
At the same moment Marie has received the peace about Emil her soul had been searching for and falls asleep in the orchard under the Mulberry tree. This is where Emil finds her, he wakes her, and then lays down next to her. Later that night Marie’s husband, Frank comes home and finds Emil’s horse, but not Emil and Marie. He is convinced that he is finally going to be justified in his jealousy and bad treatment of Marie. He grabs his gun and goes looking for them. He stumbles upon them lying together in the orchard; he shoot and murders them both.
Months later Alexandra is still grieving in her way. She can’t seem to blame Frank and vows to work until she gets him pardoned. She blames herself for not seeing what was happening between Emil and Marie and for pushing them together in the first place. She is very upset that she has not heard anything from Carl, but while visiting Frank in prison she receives a telegram that he is waiting for her at her house and to hurry home. They take comfort in each other and decide to marry.