The first similarity is that Antonia and Janie are both depreciated first in their youth, which explicitly depicts the scene of the anti-immigration, a severe historical reality against to ideas of New World Pastoral, which is a romanticized and idealized version of immigrants of American. When Antonia talks to Jim about her whole family migrated to America for a richer life and how her father ended his life because of language barriers, unfamiliar farming skills and more important, homesickness, Jim, surprisingly, comments to her:” People who don’t like this country ought to stay at home, we don’t make them come here.” After Antonia leaving, he even hopes that snooping girl would never come to see them anymore. Jim, from a child’s perspective,
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Antonia would rather give up her job in order to hold the chance to dance. For Antonia, hired girl dancing should not be considered as a social disorder or a transgression. Just like the country girls, hired girls have their right to pursue what they want. Her unremitting struggle is not only for insisting on her hobby, more importantly, is for social equality. She set a good model to encourage those immigrant girls who are being devalued to discover themselves instead of living under others’ shadow. As for Janie, during this seven-year depressive marriage with Jody, she gains an inner strength, and one day she stands up for herself to Joe in the presence of the porch sitters. This act is Janie 's first outward sign of her inner strength. For the first time, she refuses to live under Joe’s control; she refuses Joe to belittle herself to satisfy his own pathetic self-esteem. She says to Joe :” You done lived with me for twenty years and you don’t half know me at all. You’re not the Jody I run off down the road with. All this bowing down, all this obedience under your voice—that is not what I rushed off down the road to find out about you. ” Janie realized the young girl inside her was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. Antonia and Janie are epitome of women immigrants who pursue freedom both physically and emotionally and fight for their right to live as a part of
Antonia would rather give up her job in order to hold the chance to dance. For Antonia, hired girl dancing should not be considered as a social disorder or a transgression. Just like the country girls, hired girls have their right to pursue what they want. Her unremitting struggle is not only for insisting on her hobby, more importantly, is for social equality. She set a good model to encourage those immigrant girls who are being devalued to discover themselves instead of living under others’ shadow. As for Janie, during this seven-year depressive marriage with Jody, she gains an inner strength, and one day she stands up for herself to Joe in the presence of the porch sitters. This act is Janie 's first outward sign of her inner strength. For the first time, she refuses to live under Joe’s control; she refuses Joe to belittle herself to satisfy his own pathetic self-esteem. She says to Joe :” You done lived with me for twenty years and you don’t half know me at all. You’re not the Jody I run off down the road with. All this bowing down, all this obedience under your voice—that is not what I rushed off down the road to find out about you. ” Janie realized the young girl inside her was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. Antonia and Janie are epitome of women immigrants who pursue freedom both physically and emotionally and fight for their right to live as a part of