Summary Of Willa Cather's My Antonia

My Antonia, Willa Cather’s novel starts off by an unknown narrator telling the reader about a friend since childhood named Jim Burden; both had a bohemian friend named, Antonia Shimerda, who Carther wanted to recount their friend, Antonia, but since Burden knew her better, she tells him to write about her. Jim then writes a memoir about Antonia, calling it My Antonia. The story starts by Jim retelling his early life when he meets Antonia and her family. Ten year old Jim who had lost his parents and the Bohemian immigrant family, the Shimerdas, both move in to Nebraska to have a fresh start. Jim and Antonia grow up together having a strong bond. Jim then moves to town at Black Hawk, Nebraska, leaving behind Antonia. Because Antonia lost her father, she would often work at the fields in order to support her family and then moves into town as a housekeeper with another immigrant girl named, Lena Lingard. Antonia’s …show more content…
As Jim retells about his friend Antonia, she displace symbolized figure. Back in late nineteenth century, many people from Northwest Europe would come to the new world, America, to have a fresh start in life. Many immigrant children would work with their parents in order to survive in the new country. As a girl, Antonia was working in the fields breaking the stereotypes of women can not do the same things as men. Immigrant girls like Antonia, would face through racism from wealthy girls in town and because they would work as “hired girls”, they were seen as second class and would have sex with town boys. Willa Cather shows all the struggles that immigrants, especially immigrant girls, faced back in the late nineteenth century to the reader as a piece of history in the the