Essay about A Psychoanalytical Look at Jim Burden in My Antonia

In the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather is a book based upon the main characters memories. Many critics have criticized this novel, and have focused on such literary elements as setting,theme, tone and etc. However the strongest argument is the one that states that the foundation of every element in the book is based on the personal memories of Willa Cather. After researching Willa Cather you can discover many biographies that talk about her life. In many instances I found stories about her life that I found similar to Jim and Antonias. Since she used personal experiences and turned them into a story it adds a special touch to her writing.

The setting of the story has tremendous impact on the characters and themes in the novel "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. Cather's delicately crafted naturalistic style is evident not only in her colorfully detailed depictions of the Nebraska frontier, but also in her characters’ relationship with the land on which they live. The common naturalist theme of man being controlled by nature appears many times throughout the novel, particularly in the chapters containing the first winter.

Throughout the novel especially in the beginning it focuses a lot on the relationship between Antonia and Jim. While Jim does her a great deal by helping her learn English, it turns out that he really isn’t the one who’s learning the most from the relationship. It turns out that as these two kids grow up together through the book that Jim learns a lot more. Antonia without even trying ends up teaching Jim a lot about life and makes him reevaluate some of his previous opinions.

Antonia, despite having an enormous warmth about her, is too simpleminded and preoccupied with manual labor in order to have time to reflect on the meaning of happiness; nevertheless, she is always dissolved in the moment which allows her to unconsciously live by Jim's definition of happiness. She often finds herself completely submerged in her joys which predominantly come in form of her work, personal freedoms, and family. She said once, "'I belong on a farm. I'm never lonesome here like I used to be in town... And I don't mind work a bit if I don't have to put up with sadness'"(Book 5, Section1). Here it is evident that her work on the farm allows Antonia to forget her troubles and keep her from being lost in her negative thoughts. She was also found bragging to Jim about the

. In Jim and Antonia’s relationship, Jim learned more because the book is from Nick’s point of view. When Jim moves to Nebraska, he starts over beginning a whole new stage of his life. He also meets a group of immigrants and begins to fall into the negative stereotypes people have about immigrants. One of the immigrants is Antonia, and she helps him learn that immigrants are people too. Throughout the story, Jim comes to appreciate the will and spirit that make immigrants like Ántonia so successful. In the book, it says “ The girls I knew were always helping to pay for plows and reapers, brood-sows, or steers to fatten," This quote shows how Jim changed his point of view and learned to understand and appreciates immigrants hard work. Another

The book ends with Jim reflecting on his life, realizing that many of the people he loved are now dead or have moved away from his small Nebraska home, but that he still longs for the prairie. He remembers the first time he saw Ántonia and her family, the scared, brave immigrants on the train with him trying to make a better life for themselves. He feels that Ántonia has fulfilled her goals and reached happiness, but that all he has tried to accomplish in life has left him feeling empyt and unhappy. Jim vows to return to the place he was his happiest, the place Ántonia and he grew up, the place where Ántonia

Jim’s memories and feelings of Ántonia make up a majority of the novel. He admires her in such a way that his memories of her have been burned

Even though Jim departs the region, he is always bonded to it. “As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of wine stains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running. (10)” Jim was always seen as a humble and intelligent man, he never really showed any signs of anger or frustration throughout this novel. The Nebraska landscape could be seen as a metaphor to Jim, as the land is both humble and calm; and so is Jim. To relate to a specific part of the Nebraska landscape, Jim is seemingly symbolized by the river, as he never wants to leave the river, but eventually does. “For the first time it occurred to me that I should be homesick for that river after I left it.” (113) Cather uses this quote to explain how man must move on from their past and look to their future, describing Jim as the river, and how the water must continuously move.

At the beggining of the book Jim lost his parents and was sent to live in Nebraska with his grandparents. The day that Jim met the Shimerdas, the girl who they called Antonia caught his eye and he thought that she was pretty. Soon after Mr.Shimerda begged Jim to teach his daughter Antonia, she started speaking english a lot better. Jim and Antonia became best friends, they would see each other as much as possible. Although Jim and Antonia were best friends they had different ideas on life. The Shimerdas lived a very different life than Jims family, the Shimerdas had to live off of the very little they had. During winter the Shimerdas have to go with very little food and shelter from the harsh weather while Jims family didnt't have to worry

The central narrative of My Antonia could be a check upon the interests, and tho' in his fib Jim seldom says something directly concerning the concept of the past, the general tone of the novel is very unhappy. Jim’s motive for writing his story is to do to change some association between his gift as a high-powered any professional person and his nonexistent past on the NE grassland ; in re-creating that past, the novel represent each Jim’s retention and his feelings concerning his recollections. in addition, inside the narrative itself, persona usually look rachis yearningly toward the past that they need losing, particularly when Book I. Life in blackness Hawk, Jim and Ántonia recall their Day on the farm Lena appearance back toward her spirit together with her family; the Shimerdas and therefore the Russian mirror on their lives in their several home countries before they immigrated to the United Country .

Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda form a special connection/friendship and they both learn from one another as they are essentially opposites. Jim Burden is very materialistic in how he views the world. An example of this is how he thinks that the women of Black Hawk are not deserving of marriage, but instead just intimate relations. His views seemingly changed as he was previously condemning this attitude. He changes because he was very easily discouraged, when learning that the world works differently than he had imagined. Antonia Shimerda is a free spirited person who believes that are many ways to go about bringing success into one’s life, whereas Jim and others, believe there is one rigid path that must be followed. A quote that captures Antonia’s beliefs is; “That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.” However, her base convictions stay consistent throughout the entirety of the story.

Throughout My Antonia, the difference between immigrants and native lifestyles are shown. While neither Jim not Antonia is rich, Jim is definitely more well off than her. He knows the language and has enough that he can have more opportunities. Antonia realizes that her life is going to be more difficult and that she will have to work more because of her mother’s decision to move to America. She tells Jim that “if I live here, like you, that is different. Things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us,” (90) and knows that her gentle personality might be at stake. This also foreshadows future events where Antonia struggles as an immigrant farmer. It adds obstacles to her life which might lead to them drifting apart in their friendship, even complete separation. This relates to the world in how immigrants had a harder time getting going in life. Antonia’s mother has already become changed because of poverty. She is grasping, selfish, and believes everyone should help her family. Jim’s grandmother defends her, knowing that, “a body never knows what traits poverty might bring out in them,” (60), though it is socially unacceptable. The pressures of helping her family led Antonia to not be educated and become a farmer. She is happy, but this leads to Jim being away, “twenty years before I kept my promise,” (211) as he is a successful lawyer and travels. They still have old connections, though being from Bohemia did change Antonia’s life and where it could have gone.

This dialogue Ántonia says to Jim brings upon a huge change in his character. Until now, Ántonia has always treated Jim in a patronizing manner, which is based purely on age. He tries not to acknowledge or believe that he is inferior, and tirelessly tries to prove to her and consequently himself that he is her equal. However, now that he has demonstrated his strength and valor in a time of peril, she thinks of him highly rather than looking down upon him condescendingly. Jim “longed for this opportunity”, and now that he receives it, he feels pleased about this incident with the snake and “hails it with joy”, instead of feeling quite the contrary which is typical in such situations (Cather 35). Therefore, this leads him to gain some of the past self-esteem he has lost in the previous months, leading him to his development in such character. From this point on in the novel, Jim has more confidence and carries himself with pride, all due to how he overcomes one of his deepest internal struggles with himself. Although this incident is a time of great danger to his life, it further develops him into a mature young man and “a big fellow” (Cather 37).

Jim’s relationship with Antonia shapes him as a character and provides him with the tools to grow from a child to a young adult.

world and does not care to return to it. At this point, the reader begins to pity Jim,