In the passage from My Antonia, Cather uses the plow to symbolize the draining significance of farming over time. She emphasizes the fact that farmers are still there and are still relevant, but at the same time demonstrates that they do not have the same importance and respect from people on the prairie. She uses the color of the red sky to signify the power of farming at first. Also, Cather describes the image of the plow to be enormous in front of the setting sun. This also serves to show the prominence or power of farming. However, as the sun continues to set, the sky begins to lose its red color and the size of the plow decreases until the image finally vanishes. She uses imagery to show the draining significance of farming in the prairie.
