Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : Rags to Riches
Initial wretchedness at home and the 'Call'
What can we say? Booker really gets it right on this one. O Pioneers! starts when the Divide is still a harsh, unlivable place, leaving Alexandra wondering whether her family really would be better off moving away. That's the whole "initial wretchedness" thing.
Then, Alexandra takes Emil to visit the river country, returning with a newfound trust in the land. And there we have "the Call."
Out into the world, initial success
By listening to herself and convincing her family to stay on the Divide, Alexandra makes them all successful farmers and landowners.
Happily ever after? Well, not exactly. That's why Booker calls this success "initial;" we know things will change. When Carl returns, Alexandra seems unsure whether her decision to remain rooted on the Divide was a good one. Then, she is crushed when her brothers drive Carl off, accusing him of being after their sister's money.
The central crisis
But that's not the worst of it. Alexandra has been working all these years to give Emil the chances she and her other family members never had. And what does Emil do? He goes and gets himself killed, leaving Alexandra to redefine her whole life's purpose.
Now, how's that for a "central crisis"?
Independence and the final ordeal
After the murder of Emil and Marie, Alexandra really has to rethink what her life is all about. Because she's been working all this time to give Emil the freedom to do whatever he wants, his death allows her finally to think about her own wants and needs, giving her some of the "independence" Booker is talking about. But that doesn't mean it's easy for her. The "final ordeal" is when she visits Frank in prison, and leaves feeling that she, too, has become a prisoner, having lost all hope and meaning in life.
Final union, completion, and fulfillment
Just when things couldn't get worse for Alexandra, something happens that changes everything: Carl comes back. They decide to marry and go to Alaska together, though Alexandra is determined to return eventually to the Divide. Here we have a "final union," but it's really when Alexandra realizes her indelible bond to the land that we feel her destiny is fulfilled.