My Ántonia

My Antonia by Willa Cather is a novel that includes bone-chilling tragedy and life affirming uplift. The story centers around a memoir by Jim Burdin, a middle age New York lawyer who decided to write down his reminsces of his dear friend Antonia Shimerda. The story begins with Burdin heading on a train for Nebraska to live with his grandparents. He is ten years old and both of his parents have recently died. On the train he spots a Russian immigrant family and he is intrigued by them; the family…

The title character Antonia is also a “working girl” throughout the course of the novel. After Antonia’s father dies, the community seems remarkably disappointed at the fact that Antonia steps up to the plate and begins working alongside Ambrosch. Antonia is described as having “her neck [coming] up strongly out of her shoulders, like the bole of a tree out of the turf. One sees that draft-horse neck among the peasant women in all old countries” (Cather 90). The latter part of this quote is…

In Willa Cather’s novel entitled My Antonia, she writes about several female characters that, in essence, challenge the stereotypical women’s role in a male-dominated society during the early 1900s. In Trifles, a play written by Susan Glaspell, she depicts her female characters as crafty and bright and not simply inferior intellectually to their male counterparts. Upon closer examination of these two pieces of work, Cather and Glaspell demonstrate that these female characters defy the existing…

understand Cather’s novel My Ántonia, it is essential to look at her female characters, their actions, relationships, and characteristics. Ántonia and Lena were two very powerful examples of the immigrant women that Cather used, to show the inner strength of women and the power they can have in their lives that comes along with that strength. To begin, all of the women that Cather uses are anything but typical woman; they are women with a strong will like Ántonia Shimerda. Antonia was not…

Have you ever divinely connected with a particular landscape that associated with your current feelings? In Willa Cather memoir, “My Antonia” the setting and landscape throughout the story mirrors the characters feelings, foreshadows events changes, and past memories. Jim, just one particular character made many connections with the Nebraska landscape. Willa Cather the first child of a farm family was in born Virginia in 1873. At the age of nine, Cather moved to a farm in Nebraska, and then…

Antonia and Jim become close friends throughout the story of “My Antonia.” Each learned from one another. However, Antonia benefited more from the relationship with Jim. Antonia was new to pioneer life in Nebraska. Antonia was a foreigner, who had to adapt to her new surroundings. Jim helped show her how to adjust to life in America. At first, Antonia did not want to learn English because she was working hard to help support her family. When Jim would teach Antonia English, she would often…

Throughout My Antonia, Antonia undergoes many hardships, yet she perseveres. She never loses the “fire of life” as Jim calls it, and refuses to accept the problems in her life. Never asking for help or pity, Antonia faces her challenges head on. Her eventual success at the end of the book is a direct result of this. If we take success to mean happiness, it is clear that the way Antonia solves her problems has a direct relationship to her contentment and the end of the book. Antonia’s success…

The Novel, My Antonia, which is written by Will Cather, tells a story about immigration and relationships in Nebraska. The whole story is told from Jim Burton’s aspect, who is the main character. Antonia Shimerda, another main character in the story, moves from Bohemia to Nebraska with her family. She is Jimmy’s best friend, and they both play an important part in each others lives. Their relationship and growth are presented in the book. This novel was adapted into a film in 1995, which is also…

Immigrants in My Ántonia Willa Cather showed plenty of information about the "old wild west" and how the expansion of the United States started. Jim Burden, the character Cather speaks about, tries to tell her story through Burden, by giving examples on how she struggled has an immigrant in New York. As one reads throughout My Ántonia, you feel the true struggles of how a real immigrant goes through, you feel the sadness and hard work Burden truly goes through. In My Ántonia by Willa Cather, she…

Near the end of the first story, Ántonia states to Jim that “things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us” (Cather 90). “You” in this instance includes Jim and all other white people of America who have no trouble being accepted into colleges and getting jobs, while the “us” is not only Ántonia but also immigrants to America. Ántonia notices how the dominant ethnicity receives the first opportunity in education and work; while immigrants or people of other ethnicities are secondhand…