Life is personified in My Ántonia, as Ántonia’s spirit makes an impact on Jim, causing him to return to visit her as an adult. “I told Ántonia I would come back, but life intervened, and it was twenty years before I kept my promise” (My Ántonia 175). Life is personified to intervene, and Jim is unable to return and visit Ántonia. Ántonia is so important to Jim because of her success, that he makes a point of returning to visit her. “Not only the progenitor of a large, vigorous family, she is also the source of the fertility and energy that have transformed the barren Nebraska prairie into a rich and fruitful garden” (Lambert 46). Ántonia not only helps her family become successful, but she also raises many children to be successful as well.
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Both girls grow up on farms and are unmarried. Through juxtaposition, the reader learns that Ántonia gave birth to a daughter without being married, giving her a poor reputation, but Lena becomes very successful in her career. “I could not forgive her for becoming an object of pity, while Lena Lingard, for whom people had always foretold trouble, was now the leading dressmaker of Lincoln, much respected in Black Hawk” (My Ántonia 159). Antonia was pitied while Lena was respected, the opposite of what people expected, and the opposite of each other. However, Ántonia goes on to become a successful wife and mother, after she marries Cuzak. “In her struggles to tame life, Ántonia gropes; fumbling repeatedly, she runs a zigzag path but makes relentless progress” (Gerber 41). Ántonia initially struggles after the loss of her father but eventually becomes a successful wife, mother, and …show more content…
The novel is divided into five books, each focusing on a different part of Ántonia’s life. “The inserted narrative, or story-within-a-story, is an important aspect of composition for My Ántonia also. Jim’s narrative is in itself supposed to be one a collection of remembrances of Ántonia; then within his story he included a number of tales in which he simply lets the narrator speak” (Hughes 317). Throughout the novel, Jim tells important stories because they allow the reader to more fully understand Ántonia. The reader is able to see how Ántonia reacts to certain things. Jim recounts these stories of Ántonia because, in each story, Ántonia’s determination and independence make an impact on him, and she will make an impact on readers as
Both girls grow up on farms and are unmarried. Through juxtaposition, the reader learns that Ántonia gave birth to a daughter without being married, giving her a poor reputation, but Lena becomes very successful in her career. “I could not forgive her for becoming an object of pity, while Lena Lingard, for whom people had always foretold trouble, was now the leading dressmaker of Lincoln, much respected in Black Hawk” (My Ántonia 159). Antonia was pitied while Lena was respected, the opposite of what people expected, and the opposite of each other. However, Ántonia goes on to become a successful wife and mother, after she marries Cuzak. “In her struggles to tame life, Ántonia gropes; fumbling repeatedly, she runs a zigzag path but makes relentless progress” (Gerber 41). Ántonia initially struggles after the loss of her father but eventually becomes a successful wife, mother, and …show more content…
The novel is divided into five books, each focusing on a different part of Ántonia’s life. “The inserted narrative, or story-within-a-story, is an important aspect of composition for My Ántonia also. Jim’s narrative is in itself supposed to be one a collection of remembrances of Ántonia; then within his story he included a number of tales in which he simply lets the narrator speak” (Hughes 317). Throughout the novel, Jim tells important stories because they allow the reader to more fully understand Ántonia. The reader is able to see how Ántonia reacts to certain things. Jim recounts these stories of Ántonia because, in each story, Ántonia’s determination and independence make an impact on him, and she will make an impact on readers as