Summary Of ' 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.

Hawthorne describes a cold and gray day.  This description gives the reader a sense of isolation as well as slight depression.  However, the mention of a slight breeze that ruffles the canopy of the forest just enough to let in little flickers of sunshine conveys a fleeting ray of hope that seems to coexist with the gloominess in the scene.  In many scenes during the book, moods or prevailing feelings are established through descriptions of the natural surroundings of the characters.  This aspect of Hawthorne's writing makes the book deeper and more emotional.

In "My Antonia", Jim states that happiness means “ . . . to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep” (Book 1, Section 2). Jim, along with Antonia were two kids who traveled to Nebraska at a young age. They came from completely different socioeconomic statuses and despite Antonia's lack of language they eventually befriended each other and grew up together. From the very beginning of the book, we find out Jim's opinion on happiness as he is outstandingly intelligent and can easily express his thoughts. By the end of the book, however, through Antonia's words and actions, we find out that she agrees with Jim's definition of happiness.

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 .

My Ántonia takes place in a time in which gender roles were more enforced and more commonplace than they are today. Women were expected to take care of the children and the home, while men were expected to earn money and work the fields. Even though these roles were such a prominent aspect of the era, many characters worked against them. Willa Cather portrays these characters in a positive light because of their deviations from gender roles rather than despite them.

Friendship is a gift that is given at life, but what we make of it and how we take care of it is all up to us. Friends are like flashlights in dark rooms and, bandaids on a bad bruise, they make the hard times in life easier to handle and get through. The novel My Antonia shows a prominent theme of friendship between a young country boy named Jim, and a shy Bohemian immigrant named Antonia. Jim and his family provide care and friendship to Antonia's family in order to make survival easier for them through hard times. The survival and wellbeing of an immigrant family in the mid to late 1800’s depended on the connection with neighbors and this can explicitly be seen through the intimacy between Antonia, and Jim and both their families. Despite

Another powerful symbolisms was when Jim meets the girls for a picnic. The symbol of the plow against the powerful sun. The third symbol is the rattlesnake and it 's symbol of Jim becoming a man. The girls reminisce as does Jim at the picnic. The girls remember the beautiful wonderful memories of their homelands and contemplate they 're great struggles to make it in America. At the end of their picnic the silhouette of the pile against the setting sun symbolizes the plow like the pioneer spirit of strength, beauty in all inspiring greatness of nature like the sun. “Presently we saw a curious thing: there were no clouds, the sun was going down in a limpid, gold-wash sky. Just as the lower edge of the red disc rested on the high fields against the horizon, and black figure suddenly appeared on the face of the sun. We swing trophy, straining our eyes toward it. In a moment we realized what it was. And some upland farm, a pile have been left standing in the field. The sun was thinking just behind that to find across the distance was the horse on a light, it 's third against the sun, it was exactly contained within the circle of the disk; The handles, the tongue, the share-Black against the mountain ride. They are at wise, heroic in size, A picture the sun. Even while we were whispering about, our vision disappeared; The ball dropped and dropped until the red tip meet with the earth. The field below us was dark, the sky was growing pale, and that forgotten

There are few authors in the world that can change a person's life. Willa Cather is an amazing author that can transform the way a person thinks and their outlook on the subject. Henry Williams States, “The early years of young Willa’s life left a memorable impression on her and formed the basis for many of her stories and characters.” My Antonia, is one of America’s most loved stories. The main characters in her books face challenges, but find a way to persevere and live. Also by Willa Cather, A Wagner Matinee, a very informative text, is about a woman who leaves her home and seeks for what she is missing in her life.She realizes that the grass is greener on the other side, and never thinks of turning back. A person can learn many things about the old west from Willa Cather’s My Antonia and A Wagner Matinee.

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.

Throughout the beginning of the passage, the author uses an array of different rhetorical devices to give us a glimpse about Douglas Spaulding's feelings towards the beginning of summer.Ray Bradbury utilizes personification in sentences 1 through 5. For example "The town covered over with darkness...the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow." The author drives a clear picture of a mysterious atmosphere by the use of the word "Darkness". By adding "The wind had the proper touch."

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

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.

My Antonia is a classic story originally published in 1918 by Willa Cather. Cather was a famous author in the early-mid 1900s, placing her work in an era of a formal, illustrative, sophisticated writing style. She wrote numerous books about life on the great plains, where she was born and raised. She received many awards for her artistic novels throughout her lifetime. She died in 1947, and the public continues to praise her work almost a century after its publishing date. Her free-spirited writing has made her an icon ever since her books reached the shelves.

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