PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Willa Cather

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - July 28, 2002: Willa Cather

By Richard Thorman

VOICE ONE:
I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Tony Riggs with People in America. Today we tell about writer Willa Cather.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
The second half of the nineteeth century brought major changes to the United¹ States. From its

earliest days, America had been an agricultural² society. But after the end of the Civil War in
eighteen-sixty-five, the country became increasingly³ industrial. And as the population grew,
America became less unified⁴.

After railroads⁵ linked the Atlantic coast with the Pacific coast, the huge middle west of the
country was open to settlement. The people who came were almost all from Europe. There
were Swedes and Norwegians, Poles and Russians, Bohemians and Germans.

Many of them failed in their new home. Some fled⁶ back to their old homeland. But those who suffered through
the freezing winters and the burning summers and the failed crops became the new pioneers. They were the men
and women celebrated⁷ by the American writer Willa Cather.

VOICE TWO:
Cather's best stories are about these pioneers. She told what they sought and what they gained. She wrote of their

difficult relations with those who followed. And she developed a way of writing, both beautiful and simple, that
made her a pioneer too.
For many women in the nineteenth century writing novels was just one of the things they did. For Willa Cather,

writing was her life.
VOICE ONE:
Willa Cather was born in the southern state of Virginia in eighteen-seventy-three. At the age of eight, her family

moved to the new state of Nebraska in the middle west. She and Nebraska grew up together.

(Photos - Library of
Congress)
Willa lived in the small town of Red Cloud. As a child she showed writing ability. And, she
was helped by good teachers, who were uncommon⁸ in the new frontier⁹ states.

Few women of her time went to a university. Willa Cather, however, went to the University
of Nebraska. She wrote for the university literary¹⁰ magazine, among her other activities. She
graduated from the university in eighteen-ninety-five.

VOICE TWO:

Most American writers of her time looked to the eastern United States as the cultural center
of the country. It was a place where exciting things were possible. It was an escape from the flatness of the land
and culture of the middle west.

From eighteen-ninety-six to nineteen-oh-one Cather worked for the Pittsburgh Daily Leader newspaper. It was in


Pennsylvania, not New York, but it was farther¹¹ east than Nebraska.

Cather began to publish stories and poems in nineteen-hundred. And she became an English teacher in nineteen-
oh-one. For five years, she taught English at Pittsburgh Central High School and at nearby Allegheny High
School.

She published her first book in nineteen-oh-three. It was a book of poetry. Two years later she published a book
of stories called The Troll Garden.

VOICE ONE:

The owner of a New York magazine, S.S. McLure, read her stories. He asked her to come to New York City and
work as an editor at McLure's Magazine. She was finally in the cultural capital of the country. She stayed with
the magazine from nineteen-oh-six to nineteen-twelve.

One of the people who influenced her to leave the magazine was the American woman writer, Sarah Orne Jewett.
Jewett advised Cather to write only fiction and to deal with the places and characters she knew best. Jewett said it
was the only way to write anything that would last.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen -twelve Willa Cather published her first novel, Alexander's Bridge. By that time, Cather had enough
faith in herself to leave magazine work and use all her time to write fiction. She remembered Jewett's advice and
turned to the land and people she knew best, the farmers of the Middle West.

In Red Cloud she had lived among Bohemians, French-Canadians, Germans, Scandinavians, and other
immigrants¹². She saw that the mixture of all these new Americans produced a new society.

"There was nothing but land," she wrote. "Not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made."
It was this material she used to create her books.

VOICE ONE:

Like all good writers, she wanted her novels to show the world she described, not just tell about it. Later in her
life, she described the way she wrote. She called it "novels without furniture." What she meant was that she
removed from her novels everything that was not necessary to tell the story. Fiction in the nineteenth century was
filled with social detail. It had pages of description and comments by the author. Cather did not write this way.
She looked to the past for her ideas, but she drew from the present for her art.

A year after Alexander's Bridge, Cather published her second novel. It was the first of her books to take place in
the Middle West. It is called O Pioneers. It established her as one of the best writers of her time.

O Pioneers tells the story of the first small groups of Bohemians, Czechs, French, Russians, and Swedes who set
about to conquer¹³ the land. Cather said they acted as if they were a natural force, as strong or stronger than Nature.
She said they were people who owned the land for a little while because they loved it.

"Spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring," Cather wrote. "Always the same field...trees...lives."

VOICE TWO:

Cather's heroes are pioneers, settlers of unknown or unclaimed land. They also are pioneers of the human spirit.

They are, Cather said, the people who would dream great railroads across the continent. Yet she saw something
more in them. It was something permanent¹⁴ within a world of continuous¹⁵ change. A sense of order in what
appeared to be disorder¹⁶.

In Cather's mind, her writings about the Middle West, her prairie¹⁷ years, became a way to show approval¹⁸ of the


victory of traditional values against countless¹⁹ difficulties²⁰. The fight to remain human and in love with life in spite²¹
of everything gives the people in her stories purpose and calm.

VOICE ONE:
Willa Cather continued to write about these new pioneers in The Song of the Lark²² in nineteen-fifteen. She
followed that with the novel that many consider her best, My Antonia. (PRON: An-tone-ee-ya)
.

By the nineteen-twenties, however, her stories began to change. She saw more defeats, fewer victories²³. She began
to write -- not about great dreams -- but about the smallness of man's vision²⁴. She mourned²⁵ for the loss²⁶ of values
others would never miss.

Willa Cather never married. She began living with another woman from Nebraska in nineteen-oh-eight. They

lived together until Cather died.
In nineteen-twenty-two, Cather suffered a nervous breakdown²⁷. A number of things caused her condition. Her
health was not good. She was unhappy with her publisher. And, she was angry about the changes in society
brought by new technology.

In nineteen-twenty-three, Cather wrote the last of her Nebraska novels, A Lost Lady. Two years later she
produced another novel, The Professor's House. It was clear by then that she was moving in a different direction.
((MUSIC BRIDGE)
)

VOICE TWO:
Her next two novels, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and Shadows in the Rock, take place in the distant past.
They are stories about heroic²⁸ failure. Death Comes for the Archbishop takes place in the American Southwest in
the sixteenth century. It describes the experiences of two priests²⁹ who are sent to what became New Mexico. The
action is in the past. But the place is one that Cather felt always would remain the same -- the deserts of the
American Southwest.

Where her earlier books described a person's search for solid³⁰ ground, these books describe the solid ground itself.
They came from a deep unhappiness with modern life.

VOICE ONE:
Although Cather turned away from modern life, she was very much a modern writer. Her writing became
increasingly important to a new group of writers -- Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos.

Near the end of her life she wrote: "Nothing really matters but living. Get all you can out of it. I am an old
woman, and I know. Sometimes people disappoint us. And sometimes we disappoint ourselves. But the thing is
to go right on living."

Willa Cather went right on living until the age of seventy-four. She died in nineteen-forty-seven.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Richard Thorman. I'm Tony Riggs.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of

America.

 

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1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 agricultural   

adj.农业的；农艺的

参考例句：

• He was trained for gardening at the Agricultural College.他在农业大学学园艺。
• France once was an agricultural country.法国曾是个农业国。

3 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

4 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

5 railroads   

n.铁路，铁道( railroad的名词复数 )；铁路系统v.铁路，铁道( railroad的第三人称单数 )；铁路系统

参考例句：

• Water transportation was outmoded by railroads and good pikes. 水上运输已因铁路和良好的税道而变得过时了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A severe snowstorm blocked up railroads. 一场暴风雪使铁路中断。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fled   

v.逃走，逃掉( flee的过去式和过去分词 )；逃离，逃避

参考例句：

• The robbers fled empty-handed. 抢劫犯一无所获地逃走了。
• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

8 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

9 frontier   

n.国境，边境；尚待开发的领域

参考例句：

• The frontier station was starved for food and water.边防站急需食物和水。
• Areas near the frontier were rough and lawless in the old days. 过去边远地区混乱不堪，而且没有法律。

10 literary   

adj.文学（上）的

参考例句：

• Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
• The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。

11 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

12 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 conquer   

vt.克服，征服，战胜，占领；vi.得胜

参考例句：

• There is always one thing to conquer another.一物降一 物。
• Will can conquer habit.意志能战胜习惯。

14 permanent   

adj.永久的，不变的，固定的

参考例句：

• The coat gives permanent protection against heavy rain.这种防雨衣经久耐用。
• It's difficult to find a permanent cure for this disease.这病很难除根。

15 continuous   

adj.继续的，连续的，持续的，延伸的

参考例句：

• She finally got in after 10 years'continuous effort.坚持不懈地努力了十年后，她终于当选了。
• We must be continuous to study.我们必须不断学习。

16 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

17 prairie   

n.大草原，牧场

参考例句：

• A single spark can start a prairie fire.星星之火，可以燎原。
• The vast prairie stretches west to the horizon.茫茫大草原向西伸展,直至天边。

18 approval   

n.赞成，同意；批准，认可

参考例句：

• The audience has expressed its approval.观众已经认可。
• The teacher signed his approval.老师做了手势表示同意。

19 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

20 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

21 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

22 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

23 victories   

n.胜利，成功，赢( victory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The team chalked up the ten victories against two defeats. 该队赢10场输2场。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Bush has racked up victories in another five states. 布什在另外五个州又获得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 vision   

n.视觉，先见之明，光景，视力，眼力，幻想，影像；vt.幻想

参考例句：

• The wall cuts across our line of vision.那面墙挡住了我们的视线。
• Much reading has impaired his vision.大量读书损害了他的视力。

25 mourned   

v.哀悼( mourn的过去式和过去分词 )；为…哀痛，向…志哀

参考例句：

• The whole nation mourned the death of a much-loved leader. 举国上下哀悼敬爱的领导人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She mourned the loss of her brother. 她因为失去了哥哥而悲痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 loss   

n.损失，遗失，失败，输，浪费，错过，[军]伤亡，降低

参考例句：

• His death was a great loss to the country.他的逝世对这个国家是一大损失。
• Because of the continued loss,the factory closed down.由于连续亏损，工厂关闭了。

27 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

28 heroic   

adj.英雄的，英勇的，崇高的

参考例句：

• Many people have heard of the man's heroic deeds.许多人都已经听说了这个人的英雄事迹。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

29 priests   

n.（基督教和罗马天主教的）神父( priest的名词复数 )；牧师；（非基督教会的）教士；祭司

参考例句：

• the ordination of women priests 女司祭的授职礼
• The clergy remain divided on the issue of women priests. 在女性教士的问题上，牧师们意见不一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。