Immigrant Experiences In My Antonia

Immigrant Experiences in My Ántonia My Ántonia, written by Willa Cather, is known as a romantic novel. This novel brings life to the old memories contained in the narrator’s mind about a young girl from his childhood. Jim Burden narrates his life through the young girl’s experience in the Nebraska prairie. The novel also “tells the story of America’s immigrants, the story of their settlement, [and] their assimilation” (Goggans 153). The Shimerdas are the protagonist immigrant family who traveled from Bohemia. Furthermore, Ántonia Shimerda is the young lady who inspired the entirety of the romantic novel. Even though My Ántonia is understood as a romance, the novel exemplifies experiences of new immigrants in the Nebraskan prairie. My Ántonia

The Shimerdas’ religion is seperate from the Burdens’ and other Americans’ religion in the settlement. After his father commits suicide, Ambrosch’s emotions reveal, “…he was chiefly concerned about getting a priest, and about his father’s soul, which he believed was in a place of torment until his family and the priest has prayed a great deal for him” (Cather 65). Ambrosch’s concern for his father in Purgatory shows that his family is Catholic. Cooney writes the beliefs of the Shimerdas, “the Bohemians believed Mr. Shimerda’s suicide was a great sin, and they hoped that a priest would travel to the country” (145). Since their religion believes the suicide is a sin, “Mr. Shimerda is denied a place in the Norwegian cemetery” (Wussow 53). The Shimerdas are left to bury their father at the edge of the farm at a crossroad. The difference in religions is revealed when Mr. Burden provides an insight to his family’s religion. During the discussion of where Mr. Shimerda’s spirit lies, Mr. Burden states, “we believe that Mr. Shimerdas soul will come to its Creator as well off without a priest. We believe that Christ is our only intercessor” (Cather 66). This insight reveals the Burdens are Protestants as opposed to the Shimerdas who are Catholic. Religious differences connect to immigrant experience as well as food