After the death of his parents, Jim Burden is sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. Not only is this sudden grieving moment life-changing, but he is also thrown into a new environment: “There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made. No, there was nothing but land…” (Cather 11). This use of imagery to describe this landscape is also a form of symbolize. Furthermore, Jim’s description of himself feeling “erased, blotted out” represents his isolation and how he feels as if he is now on his own, no longer being led or watched by his parents; his future is now in fate’s hands. In addition, the barren country symbolizes Jim’s unknown future. Jim must now embark on his adulthood on his
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Ántonia uses imagery to describe this man by stating, “His toes stuck out of his shoes, and he hadn’t shaved for a long while, and his eyes was awful red and wild…” (Cather 108). This old, worn-down, disheveled image of this man serves a larger purpose than to just input this picture into the readers’ minds. This is linked with what was later found on him after he had passed. After he jumped into the threshing machine to end his life, they had found a piece of poetry in his pocket. This cutout from a newspaper that seemed to be quite worn out was titled “The Old Oaken Bucket”; neither Ántonia nor anyone else goes into further details about this poem. However, when one does some further research, it is found that this poem by Samuel Woodworth is centered around fond recollections of one’s childhood: “How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,/When fond recollection presents them to view!” (Woodworth 1-2). The remainder of the poem consists of different memories from his joyful past, including his father’s farm, until it nears the end with the lines, “And now, far removed from the loved situation,/The tear of regret will intrusively swell” (Woodworth 26-27). This change in attitude portrays how adulthood can be demanding and taxing. Therefore, the imagery used to describe the man in this passage symbolizes this by portraying him as a tired man looking for relief in the form of
Ántonia uses imagery to describe this man by stating, “His toes stuck out of his shoes, and he hadn’t shaved for a long while, and his eyes was awful red and wild…” (Cather 108). This old, worn-down, disheveled image of this man serves a larger purpose than to just input this picture into the readers’ minds. This is linked with what was later found on him after he had passed. After he jumped into the threshing machine to end his life, they had found a piece of poetry in his pocket. This cutout from a newspaper that seemed to be quite worn out was titled “The Old Oaken Bucket”; neither Ántonia nor anyone else goes into further details about this poem. However, when one does some further research, it is found that this poem by Samuel Woodworth is centered around fond recollections of one’s childhood: “How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,/When fond recollection presents them to view!” (Woodworth 1-2). The remainder of the poem consists of different memories from his joyful past, including his father’s farm, until it nears the end with the lines, “And now, far removed from the loved situation,/The tear of regret will intrusively swell” (Woodworth 26-27). This change in attitude portrays how adulthood can be demanding and taxing. Therefore, the imagery used to describe the man in this passage symbolizes this by portraying him as a tired man looking for relief in the form of