My Antonia And The Bell Jar : Summer Reading Assignment

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.

In chapter X of My Antonia, there is a conflict between Mrs. Harling and Antonia. Antonia is seen trying to find another job with another group of family because she was told by Mrs. Harling that she should stop going to dances. Antonia was furious about this and decided to leave this job in search for another. She states, “A girl like me has got to take her good times when she can. Maybe there won’t be any tent next year, I guess I want to have my fling, like the other girls.” This particular passage tells the reader that Antonia is searching for her own independence and she will do anything to seek it.

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

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 .

In my writing assignment I chose two of the essay questions about the novel “My Antonia” by Willa Cather. I chose question number three and question number four to write my essay. And question number three the author uses symbols from nature to express essential aspects of the lives of the characters. I chose three symbols and discussed how they convey information about the daily lives of the characters, and how the characters relate to each other and how the author views life. The fourth question that I chose to write about is how the author admires the character, Antonia. I wrote about the three characteristics that the author admires and added quotes from the book and also the reading about the author.

Willa Cather’s My Antonia and Mary Austin’s The Land of Little Rain are two literary works that effectively recreate the landscape of the stories they are telling. Their writing styles have a few similar characteristics, such as their word choice and their usage of visual elements; however, they take advantage of various writing elements that make their writing styles distinct, such as the use of figurative language, emotion, and rhetorical questioning.

Your mother passed me down to your 15-year old self. I am kissed by your heartbeat in a necklace.

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.

Why do many immigrants make the long and usually costly move to America? Is it the largely idolized notion that Americans are wealthier with better opportunities? Moreover, is the price some pay worth the risk? In Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, Ántonia faces struggles as a young child, including language barriers, poverty, harsh living conditions, and her beloved father’s death. However, as Ántonia grows into a woman, she must face struggles of a social nature, such as the division of social and economic classes, as well as social opprobrium. While immigration to America may open many doors for immigrants, it is equally fraught with obstacles. Likewise, Ántonia must face many adversities after her emigration from Bohemia to Nebraska, which

Both Willa Cather’s My Ántonia and O. E. Rölvaag’s Giants in the Earth portray the difficulties of everyday life in unexplored territory, with similar themes and context. Although the overarching themes of both novels are similar, the manner in which characters behave with each other, the dependency families have on each other, and the ability of individuals to mitigate conflict is different. Both My Ántonia and Giants in the Earth portray an array of sources causing conflict in relationships. However, they differ in the motivations of characters and intent of individual action. Both novels give unique perspectives of immigration, demonstrating how integral relationships are to survival, but also portraying how individual interests can

My Antonia was published in 1918, two years before all American women were granted the right to vote in 1920. Willa Cather lived in a bustling time where women were heavily vouching for fundamental rights and breaking free from what had been considered societal norms. While Cather mentions the conventional duties and housewives of the time the book was written, her story’s focus differs. “My Antonia’s,” narrative centers around women, many of whom are immigrants, who transcend the gender norms of their time on their journeys to create successful lives, much to Jim’s admiration.

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.

Ántonia is a passionate girl, where Jim is a passive boy who, though not mindless in the least, seems more easygoing than Ántonia, and his life plan seems to fall into place rather easily where Ántonia fought everything that displeased her. Jim described in saying “I know so many women who have kept all the things that she had lost, but whose inner glow has faded. Whatever else was gone, Ántonia had not lost the fire of life.” (Cather 216) Jim’s narration style is one of relatively purposeful observance. Even his own emotions he lists in a distant sort of way, undoubtedly because he writes his book so many years after his childhood adventures with Ántonia. However, Ántonia would like write as though the events were just yesterday, and include a passionate description of what she felt, not what some third person would observe. Her fiery passion was what guided her to take the opportunities she was given, as shown when she spoke to Jim about quitting her job so she could continue going to dances, saying "a girl like me has got to take her good times when she can. Maybe there won't be any tent next year." (Cather 133)

To start, the first time we see Jim and Antonia’s relationship drift is after Mr Schimerdas dies from supposedly killing himself. When Jim comes to teach Antonia more English after that, he begins to only teach Yulka. Antonia, being the next oldest kin, had to go out for work on the farm. “‘I ain’t got time to learn. I can work like mens now. My mother can’t say no more how Amrosch do all and nobody to help him. I can work as much as him. School is alright for little boys. I help make this land one good farm.’” (61) Antonia is already four years older than Jim, making her responsibilities even greater. Jim misses the days where the two of them went out in adventures, but soon has to go to school in town. This means that Jim will be even further away from Antonia.