How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He always put on a clean shirt when Sunday morning came round, though he never went to church. He had a peculiar religion all of his own and could not get on with any of the denominations. Often he did not see anybody from one week's end to another. (1.3.23)
One of the main ways Ivar is portrayed as a social outsider? His off-beat, vaguely fanatical religious beliefs. Here, his social isolation is placed right alongside his inability (or refusal) to "get on" with other religious denominations.
Quote #2
He best expressed his preference for his wild homestead by saying that his Bible seemed truer to him there. If one stood in the doorway of his cave, and looked off at the rough land, the smiling sky, the curly grass white in the hot sunlight; if one listened to the rapturous song of the lark, the drumming of the quail, the burr of the locust against that vast silence, one understood what Ivar meant. (1.3.24)
What exactly does Ivar mean? Well, at least we see here that the narrator shares Ivar's belief that living an isolated life in nature brings you closer to religious feelings. The whole nature-as-god idea will play a big role in O Pioneers!
Quote #3
He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run
among the hills;
They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild
asses quench their thirst.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of
Lebanon which he hath planted;
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork the
fir trees are her house.
The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the
rocks for the conies. (1.3.26)
When we first meet Ivar, he's reciting this psalm in his all-natural abode. (Check out the "Shout Outs" section for more on this.) This cements the idea that Ivar finds his place of worship not in some church with other people, but alone amidst the divine creation itself—nature.