"O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather: Analysis of The Death Scene

In Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!” the death scene of Emil and Marie perfectly encapsulates their story because it properly illustrates the inner turmoil the two felt throughout the book, and how although they have died, their love cannot be tethered to mortal bonds.

The death scene of Emil and Marie encapsulates their story because it properly illustrates the inner turmoil the pair felt throughout the story. Constantly shadowed by circumstances out of their control, they struggle to freely express their love near one another. When Emil goes missing from the farm, Ivar takes it upon himself to find him. Upon his arrival to the orchard, he finds Emil and Marie dead on the ground. He thinks to himself “The story of what had happened was written plainly on the orchard grass, and on the white mulberries that had fallen in the night and were covered in a dark stain”. In this instance, the white mulberries resemble fallen angels, which have become dark from sin. Much like angels, Emil and Marie shared an innocent connection with one another, remaining amicable but not loving. However, their decision to rebel and share adoration resembles the angels’ choice to side with Satan, the master of sin, and their damnation by god. The dark stain on the pair acts as a memento of their immoral actions, and the strife they faced when deciding to complete them. Looking onto the scene, Ivar begins to notice more complex details about the scene. Observing Emil, he notices, “He was shot in the heart, and had rolled over on his back and died. His face was turned up to the sky and his brows were drawn in a frown, as if he had realized that something had befallen him”.

In this scene Emil’s heart being shot is as if it is torn out as a result of his pent up emotions. Feeling immense pain from not being able to love Marie, Emil’s heart suffered, and the way he died encapsulates his state. Similarly, his frowned expression towards the sky represents the pain he felt, even when with Marie. Their relationship forced to be shared in secrecy, Emil looks up into the infinite heavens to find a solution to the dilemma. However, his frown reveals that he understands that he will not live to find peace. Although their demise in the field led to the end of their chapter together on earth, the death scene of Emil and Marie reveals the strength of their feelings for one another, and how they cannot be tied to mortal bonds. Within the scene, the relationship of the pair is put to the test and appears to overcome the greatest challenge of all. Due to the swiftness of Emil’s death, he was not given time to realize what had had happened. However, since Marie had survived some time longer, she was able to understand the gravity and importance of the moment. When Ivar looks at her he thinks, “On her face there was a look of ineffable content. Her lips were parted a little; her eyes were slightly closed, as if in a day-dream or a light slumber”.

Finally freed from the marital bonds that prohibited her forbidden love, Marie feels at peace with Emil. Knowing she would not be woken up from her “slumber”, it is as if Marie feels satisfied that she will forever remain with her beloved. Having finished their lives together, the pair become connected in both life and death as their last breath is spent in each other’s presence. Although Ivar saw the two dead, he could tell it was not the end of their love. He thinks, “But the stained, slippery grass, the darkened mulberries, told only half the story. Above Marie and Emil, two white butterflies from Frank’s alfalfa-field were fluttering in and out among the interlacing shadows; diving and soaring”. Escaping the shackles that were placed on them by their mortal lives, Emil and Marie appear to begin anew. Reincarnated as nature’s purest creature, the two are given a new life free of the shadows which held them back before. While humans, Emil and Marie’s love would have been seen as sinful, yet on the other side of the mortal boundary the strength of their feelings is made clear. Now “fluttering” above Frank’s field, the butterflies illustrate the novelty freedom from what used to be Emil and Marie’s only perception of reality. Ultimately, it is fitting that Ivar was the person to find the bodies. Ivar is described as a man who “hired himself out in threshing and corn-husking time, and he doctored sick animals when he was sent for”.

A man of nature, Ivar would be the only character introduced in the book who would have been able to read the scene so well. Having had experience with a variety of animals, Ivar’s connection with the world enabled him to read Emil and Marie’s emotions and truly understand the suffering, yet underlying strength of their love.