My Antonia By Willa Cather: Summary

In book one of My Antonia by Willa Cather, Jim Burden moves in with his Grandparents on their farm in Virginia. From Nebraska, he travels across the country because both of his parents had passed away within the same year. Jim takes a train with the help of one of his father’s friend, Jake Marpole, who was in charge of getting Jim to Virginia. As the two of them are approaching Virginia, a man by the name of Otto Fuchs calls for Jim and tells him that he is in charge of driving him to his Grandparent’s farm. With very little memory of the long drive that night, Jim arrives at his Grandparent's house early in the morning. The first couple days upon arrival, Jim settles in and tries to make the new farm feel like home. Early Sunday morning, Otto Fuchs drives Jim and his Grandparents over to meet their new Bohemian neighbors, the Shimerdas. During the ride, Jim anxiously examines the prairie wondering what his new surroundings will be like. He notices that many of the aspects are similar to Nebraska. As they travel further he is able to finds the beauty in the country, especially finding delight in the sunflowers. Cather focuses Jim’s attention to the sunflowers in the prairie, which helps him find the beauty of the …show more content…
This metaphor allows Cather to focus Jim’s attention to the nature in the prairie, instead of worrying what his new life will be like. He is able to find peace and happiness in such a small detail; this allows him to feel more welcome and comfortable with his new life. The “blossoms” of the “gold” sunflowers lined the road everywhere. Jim does not have a lot of hope left when he has to leave his home and move to Virginia. He is able to find the beauty in the sunflowers that were “as big as little trees” to help him calm himself and find his place in the prairie. His outlook on his future is as bright as the gold in the