Free Essays on My Antonia

â€Å" More than any other person we remembered, this girl seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood (Cather 2).† In the introduction the author is on a train with Jim Burden talking about Antonia in saying this, Jim is telling the author that Antonia made him who he is today. She has a special way of shining through everyone everybody she meets. This quote sets the tone for the novel and describes her throughout her life. It can be useful throughout time for all friends who become a hero in one’s life. â€Å" Now, don’t you go and be a fool like some of these town boys. You’re not going to sit around here and whittle store boxes and tell stories all your life. You are going away to school and make something of yourself. I’m just awful proud of you (Cather 143).† At the time of this quote much has already taken place, such as, Jim’s arrival in Nebraska as an orphan at 10. He will now live on a farm close to Antonia’s. They become great friends and spend all their time together until a great tragedy occurs. Antonia’s father takes poverty hard and is very homesick for his homeland. Because he cannot take it, he kills himself changing Antonia’s life forever. The English lessons given by Jim are no more, as Antonia has to work on the farm. After a while working on the farm just isn’t cutting it anymore, so when the Burden’s move to the city for Jim’s education they find a good home for Antonia to work at. At the time of the quote Antonia is trying to tell Jim to go away for school to get the best education possible. She loves him dearly, and will miss him but at the same time, wants the best for him. It’s hard for her to think of him wasting away in this town remembering the ‘good olâ €™ days’. Antonia knows that Jim has potential to be great and is just so proud to even know him. Many times this quote can relate to parents sending their children off to college. ... Free Essays on My Antonia Free Essays on My Antonia The Novel My Antonia, is a story of a young Bohemain immigrant girl, Antonia Shimerda, on the central plains in Black Hawk, Nebraska. The story in narrated by a young boy, Antonia’s neighbor, Jim Burden. Jim, because of his parents death, finds himself in Nebraska living with his father’s parents. This is where he meets Antonia. This novel, written by Willa Cather, is a story of Jim’s experiences and memories relating to Antonia. Through Antonia Shimerda, and other characters throughout the novel, My Antonia, including Lea Lingard, Jim’s Grandparents and Mrs. Harling, Jim Burden learns important lessons that enrich his life and shape him to become the man he is at the end of the novel, who is able embrace Antonia’s country family. Lena Lingard, a country girl about Jim’s age, becomes a very important symbol throughout the book. When Lena first enters the scenes, in the Harlings’ household, we see a poised and graceful woman. During the duration of this visit, Antonia is not very cordial to Lena. Although they are both ‘hired girls’, Lena is an object of men’s affections while Antonia is not, despite her beauty. Once in the novel, when Jim tries to kiss Antonia, she scolds him. He defensively tells Antonia that Lena has let him kiss her passionately. To men, Lena represents the delights of love without responsibility, and the differences between her and Antonia are very distinct. In many ways, the character of Lena molds Jim in many ways to embrace Antonia’s country family. Lena represents the opposite of Antonia, a way for Jim to see what Antonia might have ended up like, had she allowed the same things as Lena. She also represents how Antonia and Jim’s relationship might have been, had Jim been able to express his romantic feelings for Antonia. Josiah and Emmaline Burden, Jim’s grandparents are key character... Free Essays on My Antonia â€Å" More than any other person we remembered, this girl seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood (Cather 2).† In the introduction the author is on a train with Jim Burden talking about Antonia in saying this, Jim is telling the author that Antonia made him who he is today. She has a special way of shining through everyone everybody she meets. This quote sets the tone for the novel and describes her throughout her life. It can be useful throughout time for all friends who become a hero in one’s life. â€Å" Now, don’t you go and be a fool like some of these town boys. You’re not going to sit around here and whittle store boxes and tell stories all your life. You are going away to school and make something of yourself. I’m just awful proud of you (Cather 143).† At the time of this quote much has already taken place, such as, Jim’s arrival in Nebraska as an orphan at 10. He will now live on a farm close to Antonia’s. They become great friends and spend all their time together until a great tragedy occurs. Antonia’s father takes poverty hard and is very homesick for his homeland. Because he cannot take it, he kills himself changing Antonia’s life forever. The English lessons given by Jim are no more, as Antonia has to work on the farm. After a while working on the farm just isn’t cutting it anymore, so when the Burden’s move to the city for Jim’s education they find a good home for Antonia to work at. At the time of the quote Antonia is trying to tell Jim to go away for school to get the best education possible. She loves him dearly, and will miss him but at the same time, wants the best for him. It’s hard for her to think of him wasting away in this town remembering the ‘good olâ €™ days’. Antonia knows that Jim has potential to be great and is just so proud to even know him. Many times this quote can relate to parents sending their children off to college. ... Free Essays on My Antonia My Antonia has been called nostalgic and elegiac because it celebrates the past. The inscription on the title page of My Antonia is a quotation from Virgil: "Optima dies... prima fugit." This sentence, meaning "the best days are first to flee", helps incorporate all the elements of the novel I would like to discuss. It not only makes clear that Willa Cather will deal with memories of a glorious past, but also allows suitable basis to show how nature can change and affect a relationship. It also hints at the Hellenic, to a large extent pastoral tone the novel will be set in. A pastoral work retreats to an ideal rural setting. Jim Burden not only goes back to the prairie, but more importantly, he retreats to the innocent days of his very first memories. While this reflects on the focus of the paper, I will use two characters, Jim and Antonia, to illustrate these issues, and show why they make this book such a delightful work of art. My Antonia is told from the point of view of Willa Cather's fictional friend, Jim Burden. He writes in the first person, and his use of the pronoun "I" makes you feel his personal involvement. The point of view is immediate and subjective. Looking back on his memories, he knows what is eventually going to happen to the characters. He persuades you to sympathize with all of them. His perception, being broad and persuasive, sets the tone for the whole book. What is the purpose of having the story told by Jim Burden thirty years later? From that perspective he can present with great clarity and tenderness the highlights of his memories. A man of the world, he is reinvestigating his values. Jim Burden sets down everything the name of Antonia brings back to him. Antonia represents to him the most fundamental, traditional way to lead one's life, including the virtues of hard work, charity, love, optimism, pride, and sympathy with nature. The prairie makes one think...