Throughout My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, the change of seasons is often mentioned and represents the hardships and beauties of the world. The summer and spring are examples of the beauties in the world since the citizens are able to work due to the long days. The spring is almost as important as the summer since it is the time of year when farmers begin to farm again after the winter. But, the winter is unforgiving. During the winter all of citizens are hiding in their nice warm houses trying to avoid the harsh cold. Due to the citizens’ perseverance and hard work their town is able to thrive.
The Winter is the opposite of summer, during the winter not only does the winter change but the town's appearance. The houses that once looked artificial were exposed and looked abandoned. “Winter comes down savagely over a little town on the prairie...The roofs, that looked so far away across the green treetops...they are so much more uglier then when their angles were softened by vines and
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Harling and Tony break the ground and plant the garden…”(94). The winter killed the vines and green treetops that were covering the houses, and during the spring the land is rebuilding itself back up. With the cold weather gone a new energy came in the form of dancers. The dancers movement is attractive similar to the transition of winter to spring. “All the young men felt the attraction of the fine, well-set-up country girls who had come to town to earn their living…”(96). The energy that the dancers brought to black hawk was beneficial to the town, it motivated the citizens to do their work well before it was time to dance. The dancing also gave Ántonia a new type of energy that everyone but the Harlings liked. But, after the spring comes the hot summer which all the citizens look forward to because they are able to go outside, and wear their new
The main season in the novel is the ’enemy’ of winter. Edith Wharton uses the climate to match the feelings of people in Starkfield, walking with a ’sluggish pulse’.
Life is always full of choices and some happen to be wrong and some happen to be right. All these choices that one takes in their lifetime in some way will influence their life. For example, a simple action such as walking one's dog can change their life in so many ways. In Book II of My Antonia there are many examples of good and bad decisions that the characters make. And these decisions affect their outcome for the better or for the worse.
First, we have the idea of darkness; the season of winter that takes place in the town of Starkfield. Winter in the book shows devastation and
Antonia is new to Repose thanks to her sister Brooklyn. She is running from her ex boyfriend a man who abused her, assaulted her and took her for granted and violated her trust and that commitment. She’s scared, scarred, and looking to just stay under the radar and maybe start a new life despite fears that her ex- Ray may one day hunt her down. She meets the chief of police and his brothers who seem instantly interested in learning more about her. She fights the attraction she feels until she realizes that all four men have scars of their own. Fox and Gino are physically scarred just like her and it takes the love and bond they share to overcome all their fears and reservations. Just when Antonia thinks that life is perfect and she is finally
When reading “My Antonia,” I learned a lot about her character. Antonia seems down to Earth and excited to explore new things. Antonia has a strength that helps her succeed in many things. I believe she has the power to make bad situations beautiful in her own way.
In this excerpt from Willa Cather’s My Antonia, as it nears night in the prairie of Nebraska. Jim Burden returns to his hometown of Black Hawk, visiting family and friends during his summer vacation before he starts Law School. He first visits his Grandparents and other family friends, but finds himself reminded of Antonia, his childhood friend who he grew up with. He walks to Antonia’s house, and Antonia’s sister directs him to the field where she is working. Their reunion is sentimental, as the friends were apart for many years apart, with Jim living and studying in Lincoln, and Antonia farming and homesteading on the prairie. As they walk together in the warm August air, they each share stories of their new lives, their dreams, hopes
The story ‘My Antonia’ by Willa Cather is a story revolved around struggle, adventure and mystery with a complicated atmosphere. Not only are the characters solely defined by their actions, but so is the setting of the story. The way that the story is written makes me assume that the land is a metaphor for human emotions and interactions. Cather is an author who not only focuses on the characters, but gives you enough information to analyze; their personalities, emotions, the land and weather, and even the emotions of the land. In many books/stories the most under appreciated character is the setting.
The book My Antonia is written by Willa Cather. Willa Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for more than fifteen books. Cather was said to be one of the most remarkable writers in America during the early twentieth century. The story of My Antonia is set on the wide open plains of Nebraska. The story takes place in the late 1880s to the 1920s. The setting of how the characters were traveling by train and using horses and wagons to travel around, give the reader a pretty good idea that this was set in the early years. Also, in the book it describes some of the living conditions of some of the families. How they live in sod houses and they struggled to stay warm in the winter. The narrator of the story is Jim Burden.
Cather’s attitude towards the American Dream is that of, it may appear that the American Dream is renowned and tremendous, however, once it is seen in its true form, one realizes that the wealth and materialistic success is nothing compared to attaining true happiness, as evidenced by her use of imagery. Jim and Antonia watch the sunset together, as “a great black figure suddenly appears…heroic in size…magnified across the distance…as we sprung to our feet,” then the sky grew “dark” and the figure was forgotten (Book ). The figure from afar represents the American Dream and its focus and importance toward Jim and Antonia. But, as the sun fell, representing the passing of time, it had soon been erased and was of no importance
The exposition of the book begins by introducing Darrow’s wife, family, and friends. Darrow is a Helldiver which means that he and the other Reds must mine helium-3 which is a very important mineral. Darrow’s wife named Eo is executed for singing an illegal song that goes against the government. Darrow is contacted by the Sons of Ares which are a terror group that believes that the Reds are oppressed and wants to rebel. Darrow is told that he must turn into a Gold, Golds are the highest members of society and Mars and control everything and everyone. Darrow must do this because the Sons of Ares wants a connection inside the Gold leadership so they can take them down. After Darrow becomes a Gold he must get into the Institute which is very difficult to get into. He achieves a very high score on the test and successfully gets into the Institute. The Institute is divided into Houses and Darrow is chosen by House Mars. The rising action starts when The Passage gets underway. The Passage is when all of Houses are given their own castle and told to fight and kill each other. They also can make other people slaves that will obey commands given to them. Darrow becomes friends with Cassius and Roque in the beginning of The Passage. Darrow then decides that he wants to take down Titus who is very evil. He makes an alliance with Antonia. He gives their
It was a good opportunity to read from this interesting novel, this week, as I've never heard of it before. To me, the story was easy to follow and interesting because it describes social situations and reflects the changing that the people experience in the real life during the beginning of the twentieth century. In the novel, we can recognize multiple facts such as the personal memories and certain details of Jim’s past with Shimerdas, description of the characters and their developments, the immigrant experience in America, and the journey of discovering new land and a new life. The conflict in the novel is an important concept that revolves around the different lives and cultures. “She put her arms under her head and lay back. Looking up at the sky. “If I live here like you, that is different. Things will be easy for you, but they will be hard for us.” (Cather, p. 159) from this line, we can infer that the outsiders face extreme hardship in their everyday life and experience nostalgia in a new country where someone neither speak the language nor understand the culture. People such as the Bohemian Shimerdas, the Russians Peter and Pavel, and the Norwegian Lena have left their country because of a great trouble and have fallen upon hard times.
As the novel slowly changes from summer to winter, many other things do, too. For example, the mood changes dramatically. A clear example is the two rivers. Gene thinks, “We had never used this lower river, the Naguamsett, during the summer. It was ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed” (76).
The days were getting shorter and nights grew cold. Streets of Elm Hill were littered with golden leaves as fall was coming to an end. Parents were sending their kids outside to play for the last time that season for the cold weather was coming. Soon families would be trapped inside for 3 long months as they waited for winter to pass.
My Ántonia is an interesting novel published in 1918 by Willa Cather, which is very detailed and well written. It is about Jim Burden and his love for Shirmedas’ daughter, Ántonia who is new Bohemian immigrant moved be Burden’s neighbors. Ten years old Jim who has recently been orphaned move to Nebraska from Virginia to live with his grandparents. They live on the farm as Jim plays and teaches Ántonia English. One harsh winter, Ántonia ‘s father becomes depressed and kills himself leaving his wife and Ántonia to do all the work and provide for the family. Later, Jim and Ántonia move to Black Hawk where Ántonia work as a servant to support her family back on the farm and Jim begins high school. After high school graduation, Jim goes off to college in Lincoln, Nebraska where he starts dating with Lena, Ántonia’s friend. Jim returns home before leaving for law school and finds Ántonia living in poverty alone with a child. He then returns after 20 years to encounter Antonia married with multiple children. Jim at the end confesses and admits he was in love with Ántonia from the beginning.
3) The most basic and comprehensive picture in My Ántonia is the Nebraska scene. Cather's charming and moving outline of it is perhaps the most understood and exceptionally acclaimed some portion of the novel. The scene symbolizes the greater idea of a human space, a setting in which a man lives and moves. Jim's relationship with the Nebraska scene is basic in solitude terms, yet it also comes to symbolize an unbelievable game plan about Jim's relationship with the all inclusive community and culture of Nebraska, and with his inward character. All through the novel, the scene mirrors Jim's estimations—it looks pulverize when he is devastate, for instance—and besides mixes feelings inside him. Finally, the scene transforms into the novel's most considerable picture of the vanished past, as Jim, the lawful counsel in distant New York, reviews longingly on the scene of his childhood. The wrinkle, which Jim and Ántonia see plot against the immense setting sun, symbolizes the relationship between human culture and the consistent scene. As the sun sets behind the wrinkle, the two parts are participated in a lone picture of impeccable agreeableness, recommending that man and nature similarly concur concordantly. Nevertheless, as the sun sinks cut down not very far away, the wrinkle seems to wind up plainly humbler and more diminutive, in the end reflecting the power of the scene over the people who possess it. That is why symbols and plot of it all and why it is a valid reason why