The writers of O Pioneers! and Black Boy present the place of girls in society by way of distinct narratives. Willa Cather describes a muscular woman in O Pioneers, not like another girl in literature. Alexandra is proven as a girl having qualities of the alternative gender, equivalent to aggression and tenacity. The story of Alexandra is likely to be seen as a prediction of what girls will grow to be within the twenty first century. On the frontier, gender norms are much less inflexible and prone to reinterpretation. In distinction, Richard Wright depicts girls in his autobiography as a mirror of the Black man’s issues and social challenges. The illustration of girls as an issue by nearly all of writers has existed for millennia. Wright exposes the cruel existence endured by Black males in his work by excluding girls and their considerations. Alexandra and Wright exist in two separate tales. The previous seeks to make sure the profitability of her father’s farm whereas caring for her brothers, whereas the latter exposes entrenched prejudice whereas largely neglecting the predicament of Black girls.
In O Pioneers, Alexandra is proven as a girl preventing to realize in a historically masculine space. Cather demonstrates that the protagonist in her novel overcomes obstacles, defies gender stereotypes to inherit her father’s property, and takes excellent care of it. In Cather’s narrative, Alexandra, a Swedish nationwide, is portrayed because the protagonist. She thrives on establishing her personal id and achieves self-actualization by reclaiming her father’s wasteland and fights for equal landowner rights. Cather portrays herself as creative, hardworking, and perceptive. Cather (1913) noticed, “Alexandra learn the newspapers, watched the markets, and learnt from her neighbors’ blunders” (p. 15). Cather (1913) provides, “Her thoughts was a white guide, with clear writing about climate and animals and development” (p. 205). In distinction to nearly all of pioneer-era writing, Cather convincingly portrays Alexandra as a girl who overcomes gender oppression.
Richard Wright writes his autobiography from a sexist perspective, attributing the challenges skilled by Black males on the ladies in his life. As an alternative of addressing the racial obstacles skilled by folks of colour throughout this time interval, they targeted on different points. In his memoirs, Wright depicts his mom and grandmother as unapproachable and horrifying. In one of many passages, Wright (1998) remembers, “my mom had been scolding me all morning, ordering me to remain quiet and warning me to not make any noise” (p.3). Wright seeks to display within the introduction of Black Boy how the feminine position fashions in his life impede and stifle his inventive facet.