The Spirit of Antonia in My Antonia
The life of Antonia Shimerdas, the main character in Willa Cather's My Antonia, could easily be judged a failure. Perhaps measures of wealth, career, beauty and love fall short when held next to Antonia. If one could categorize life by that unnamable light or spirit which Antonia never loses, she would surpass all who belittle her achievements in other areas.
Where the spirit comes from, no one can say. “Perhaps an ethereal or god-like being takes residence in the person's heart”(Helmick 46). Some may say it's simply the chemistry of human beings to vary in levels of energy, which manifests itself as vigor and enthusiasm for living. “But even one who attributes the undying light to an abundance of hormones or simply luck in life will ultimately hit a barrier to such a theory, as is the case with the timeless heroine, Antonia Shimerdas”(Helmick 48).
Only rarely does the spirit of life embody itself in the eyes of a woman or man. Strangers recognize a striking presence in the eyes of Antonia even as a young child. Her penetrating eyes, like "mirrors of the soul," remind a passenger conductor of the gleam which emanates from a new dollar. Similarly, when first meeting his lifelong friend, the narrator, Jim, is struck by her "big and warm" eyes, which bring forth images of "the sun shining on brown pools in the wood" (Cather 22).
Like many children, the young Antonia exudes a fascination with all nature's things. Yet her connection with the land continues to flourish at the time when other children climb down from the trees and enter the realm of adulthood. In an arduous life of poverty and toil, Antonia embraces her love of the land, harnessing her passio...
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...kept," they could not diminish that which made Antonia blaze-her Inner Light, whose mysterious source remains unnamed, but is forever cherished as a testimony to what it means to truly live.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bloom, Harold, ed. Willa Cather's My Antonia. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1987.
Bourne, Randolph. "Review of My Antonia." Murphy's Critical Essays 145-147.
Cather, Willa. My Antonia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
Fussell, Edwin. Frontier. American Literature and the American West. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1965.
Helmick, Evelyn. "The Mysteries of Antonia." Bloom's Willa Cather's . . . , 109-119.
Rosowski, Susan J., ed. Approaches to Teaching Cather's My Antonia. New York: The Modern Language Association of America. 1989.
Trilling, Lionel. "Willa Cather." Bloom's Modern Critical Views 7-15.
When Willa Cather wrote her novel My Antonia in 1918, there probably was not any doubt that it was the story of a woman's accomplishment. However, today there have been many critics that claim this work to be the legacy of a girl's struggle, not triumph. This perception can easily be argued. This leaves readers with the choice of interpreting the book as enlightening or depressing.
My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is a book tracing the story of a young man, Jim Burden, and his relationship with a young woman, Antonia Shimerda. Jim narrates the entire story in first person, relating accounts and memories of his childhood with Antonia. He traces his journey to the Nebraska where he and Antonia meet and grow up. Jim looks back on all of his childhood scenes with Antonia with nearly heartbreaking nostalgia. My Antonia, is a book that makes many parallels to the sadness and frailty, but also the quiet beauty in life, and leaves the reader with a sense of profound sorrow. One of the main ways Cather is able to invoke these emotions in the reader is through the ongoing theme of separation. Willa Cather develops her theme of separation through death, the changing seasons, characters leaving and the process of growing apart.
A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998).
One of the characteristics of a phobia is a feeling that is greater than the fear of a situation or object with an exaggeration of the danger associated with the said situation or even object. This persistent fear often leads to an anxiety disorder that leads an individual to develop mechanisms that ensure one avoids the object or situation that triggers the occurrence of the phobia. Phobias can have highly debilitating effects on an individual including the development of depression, isolation, substance abuse, and even suicide. Many people take phobia for granted however, it is clear that it has the potential to impair the quality of life for both the affected and the people around them. The fact that many of the phobias are manageable using
Throughout the Phoenix Suns existence, they have had many great years as well as many down years. When I was introduced to the sport of Basketball, the first team I watched was the Chicago Bulls; I was completely intrigued by this sport. Each member of the team on the court always seemed to be giving it their all. It was only for a year that I was a Chicago Bull fan; this was because I had not yet found out that Arizona had, and “The Team” of course, is the Phoenix Suns. I was quickly converted to a Suns fan (now I now what you’re thinking; you think I’m one of those people who just moves around cheering the team that wins…. well I’m not I was just a little kid who just found out that there was a professional basketball team in the state he lived in, and I just started cheering for them.) This team is great they are always playing their hearts out.
Conquering phobias is a specialty of hypnotherapists. A phobia is a compulsive fear of a specified situation or object (Knight 2). A few types of phobias are fear of open spaces, fear of snow, fear of the cold, fear of marriage, fear of insanity, fear of being alone, fear of darkness, fear of disease, fear of beards, fear of birds, fear of being stared at, fear of bein...
In order to treat the fear you must treat it with relaxation while in the presence of the feared situation. The first step in Wolpe’s study was to focus on relaxing your body. He recommended a process that involves tensing and relaxing various groups of muscles until a deep state of relaxation is achieved (Wolpe,264). The second stage was to develop a list of anxiety-producing situations that are associated with the phobia. The list would descend with from the least uncomfortable situation to the most anxiety producing event you can imagine. The number of events can vary from 5 to 20 or more. The final step is to desensitize, which is the actual “unlearning” of the phobia. Wolpe told his patients that no actual contact with the fear is necessary, and that the same effectiveness can be accomplished through descriptions and visualizations(Wolpe,265). Wolpe’s participants are told to put themselves in a state of relaxation which they are taught. Then, the therapist begins reading the first situation on the hierarchy they have made up. If the patient stays relaxed through the first situation the therapist continues to the next until the state of relaxation is broken. If they feel a slight moment of anxiety they are to raise their index finger until the state of relaxation is restored. The average number
Willa Cather used her own experiences to start the plot and give the story background. Both she and Jim Burden were born in Virginia, and moved to Nebraska. In the beginning of the novel, Antonia is the crutch that supports Jim through his slow early development. Later, she just becoms a catalyst that continues jim's development as a character. My Antonia is about the character development and struggle for Jim to overcome his sense of Nostalgia after modeling himself after a Bohemian immigrant who was unable to bear the pressures of emigrating to America.
The hydria shows that on each of Cerberus’ heads and front-feet is a serpent, and down one head’s neck are a row of serpents. It is also quite obvious how large Cerberus is compared to King Eurystheus and Hercules. Since Homer does not describe Cerberus other than saying that Cerberus is a hellhound, it is not possible to compare the size of the Cerberus on the hydria with the size of the Cerberus in The Odyssey. Even so, it is possible to compare Cerberus on the hydria to Cerberus in the film Hercules. The most obvious difference between the film and the hydria would be that the film represents Cerberus as three wolves and the hydria shows Cerberus with three heads. Additionally, the hydria shows Cerberus as quite large next to Hercules and King Eurystheus, while the wolves in the film are about the size of an average wolf, which compared to Hercules and Eurystheus in the film, is much smaller than the hydria
Randall III, John H. "Intrepretation of My Antonia." Willa Cather and Her Critics. Ed. James Schroeter. New York: Cornell University Press, 1967. 272-323.
Some say that he has more than 3 heads, some myths say that he has up to 50 heads. There is also differences in the size of cerberus, some say he is the size of a normal dog and others say that he is taller than buildings. The reason for this speculation is that most of anyone that would have traveled down to Hades would have not made it back to describe Cerberus.
The landscape and the environment in Willa Cather's, My Ántonia, plays several roles. It creates both a character and protagonist, while it also reflects Cather's main characters, Jim and Ántonia, as well as forming the structure of the novel. Additionally, it evokes several themes that existed on the prairie during the time in which the story takes place. Some of these themes that directly relate to the novel, which are worth exploring, are endurance, hardship, and spirituality. Additionally, the symbolism of the "hot and cold" climate will be examined, revealing the significance it has on the novel in an overall manner. The analyses will further explain Cather's construction of the novel, which is based on three cycles: the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of life and physical development and lastly, the cultural cycle.
In conclusion, phobias are a big part of many people’s lives these days and a growing medical condition. People do not realize how badly phobias can affect their lives so they don’t receive medical attention. There are no cures for phobias but there are treatments which will help the phobic get over their fear. I personally believe that if people care enough about their lives, they will treat their phobias. Phobias can totally alter your life so if you have any of the symptoms I have listed above, please go and get treatment.
Colin Farrell plays Stu Shepard, a fast-talking, fast-pulling publicist who wants everyone who¡¯s anyone to think he's on top of the world. Wearing Italian suits and a knock-off designer watch, he struts down the sidewalks of Manhattan (somewhat reminiscent of the Saturday Night Fever scene), talking on two cell phones and a payphone. The payphone is to call his sweetie-on-the-side so that a record of her number doesn¡¯t show up on his cell bill and alert his wife to his deception.
Phobias are irrational fear to a person, place or object and they are classified as an anxiety disorder. There is a term for every phobia imaginable. Phobias affect approximately nineteen million individuals, with the fears ranging from blood to women and every thing in between. The symptoms one experiences when suffering with a phobia include profuse sweating, headaches, extreme nausea and a variety of other physical symptoms.