Modernism focuses on removing literature from the safety of nineteenth century conventions and propelling new ideas on how and what to write into the literary domain. In ‘My Antonia’, Cather embodies the push for new literary techniques as she revolutionises the practises of the novel and challenges the conformist society of capitalist America. This can be seen in her narrative technique, anti-Victorian views and character symbolism.
The modernity of ‘My Antonia’ can be seen through the narrative style used by Cather. The opening narrative sets the scene for a nostalgic reminiscence of Antonia’s life and delivers background information on Jim. It is through the initial framing narrative that we acquire Jim’s manuscript. This forms a secondary layer of narrative. Thus, we as an audience are reading the unknown narrator study Jim’s autobiography:
I suppose it hasn't any form. It hasn't any title, either." He […] [wrote] the word, "Antonia." He frowned at this a moment, then prefixed another word, making it "My Antonia."[…]My own story was never written, but the following narrative is Jim's manuscript, substantially as he brought it to me.
(Cather 714)
The implication of Jim’s lack of form is that his narrative will be fragmented. This is made apparent when we see the manuscript is episodic containing five different books, thus five stories. This is a subversion of traditional novel techniques where narratives are singular and expansive. Cather conforms to the modernist ‘liking of fragmented forms [and] discontinuous narratives.’ (Barry 79). By prefixing the title with ‘My’ Jim is claiming ownership over his memoir of Antonia; this allows us to see the narration will be of a restricted first person narrator because...
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In Willa Cather's My Antonia a special bond is formed, shattered, mended, and eventually secured between the main characters, Antonia Shimerda and Jim Burden. Jim and Antonia seem to be destined to affect each other's lives dramatically, from the beginning of the novel.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
My Ántonia brings together the life of a young boy and young Bohemian female in the old prairie. The book details this hardships and memories together as they grow older and their lives change in the ever-different worlds. The one thing that keeps them close through all of the turmoil is their personal memories. Neither Jim or Ántonia ever recall large historical events though but rather only the ir personal memories which keeps them closer than they think if when they are separated for long periods of time through the novel.
In My Antonia by Willa Cather, there are many dark overtones that pervade the novel. It is through the use of symbolism and contrast these overtones are made real. The prairie is the predominant setting of the novel. It may be shaped, and it conforms to the desires of those working it. The prairie¹s loneliness, shown by the wide open spaces, is a brilliant way of revealing internal conflict by using a setting. Also, it brings out the characters true meaning. Cather shows through the character of Lena Lengard that society¹s next generation would not be as good, or quite as noble as that of Cather¹s childhood. The primary inscription on the first page states that the best days are the first to flee. Cather contrasts these ideas with Antonia¹s personality, which is always bright. This contributes to the dreariness of the novel.
He is apprehensive about seeing Antonia, fearing that she will no longer be the idealized person who exists in his memory. Jim is not let down when they meet, as even though she is now a “battered woman … but she still had that something that fires the imagination, could stop one’s breath for a moment” (226). Age has not dampened the spirit that Jim was drawn to throughout his youth and now his adulthood. He speaks about her through a lens of true love and respect, telling her children that he “couldn’t stand it if you boys were inconsiderate [towards Antonia] … I was very much in love with your mother once, and I know there’s nobody like her” (222). Jim refers to Antonia as a “rich mine of life,” and it is clear that Antonia’s type of richness is more valuable in Jim’s eyes. Through her, he is able to realize that tangible fiscal wealth is far less precious than the impalpable beauty of emotional connection and
Roberts, Edgar V., Jacobs, Henry E. “Literature.” The Lesson. 470-475. Toni Cade Bambara. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 2001
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.
DiYanni, Robert. "Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama." Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Boston: McGraw Hill, 1973. 743-749.
She explains to him then that even though other boys act that way, he can’t, because “[he’s] not going to sit around here and whittle store-boxes and tell stories all [his] life. [He’s] going away to school and make something of [himself]”(pg.190). Finally towards the end of the novel, as Jim sees Ántonia for the first time in over 12 years. He notices that for a women with such a tough and labour filled life, both physically and emotionally, a woman whose skin, “so brown and hardened, had not that look of flabbiness”(pg. 264), and she “had not lost the fire of life”(pg. 264). At this moment Ántonia
Much of the earliest criticism of My Antonia focuses on the apparent failure of the narrative. Many critics take the title of the story and its introduction at face value. When the story says it is to be about Ántonia, it must be about her! Therefore, many critics see the stunningly crafted pieces of "variation from a theme" -- the stories of Peter & Pavel (the Russians and their wolves) and the sections of the novel dealing with the hired girls Lena Lingard and others-- as divergences which weaken the overall structure of the novel. In other words, these stories distract us from the real story, that of Ántonia and her relationship with Jim. Other critics talk mostly about the landscape of Cather's stories, the way the pioneer story and the struggle with nature is a vital piece of her work. This is partly why, I think, Cather has been viewed as a minor writer of "local color" for so long. Because she sketches her landscapes with such simplicity and yet detail, many critics do not look past the landscape to see the characters and the true drama that they play out.
Ambiguity is the dimension of a text (idea, characterization, perspective, etc.) that can be described as a puzzle, as something strange or curious — a point of interpretative confusion, a problem.There are many subtle ambiguities in Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia, what will be concentrated on in this paper will be on Cather’s use of a male narrator and how the author chooses to describe the main female character. The female that will be focused on is Antonia.Antonia is described as wearing the clothing of a man, "After the winter begun she wore a man's long overcoat and boots, and a man's felt hat with a wide brim.” (203), the quote highlights the ambiguity of Cather’s description of a female wearing a man’s clothes which is uncharacteristic due to Antonia being a female;this is part of Cather’s agenda. Subtle ambiguities like these are throughout the text. The way in which Cather describes Antonia makes the reader question Jim Burden’s true feelings and what Cather is attempting to accomplish as a female writer during the early 1900s.
My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is a novel about Jim Burden and his relationship and experiences growing up with Antonia Shimerda in Nebraska. Throughout the book Jim reflects on his memories of Nebraska and the Shimerda family, often times in a sad and depressing tone. One of the main ways Cather is able to provoke these sad emotions within the reader is through the suicide of Antonia’s father, Mr. Shimerda. His death was unexpected by everyone and it is thought that homesickness is what drove him to take his own life. Homesickness was surely felt by Mr. Shimerda, as it was by many, but it was the failure to adequately find a way to provide for his family that sent Mr. Shimerda into a depressing downward spiral that left him no foreseeable alternative but to take his own life.
He is apprehensive about seeing Antonia, fearing that she will no longer be the idealized person who exists in his memory. “I did not want to find her aged and broken; I really dreaded it” (pg. 127). Jim is not let down when they meet, as even though she is now a “battered woman” (pg. 137), she possess the wonderful spirit that Jim adores. In contrast to Jim’s material prosperity and lacking personal life, Antonia has chosen to live the labor-intensive farmer and has a devoted husband and children.
Cather mends a special relationship between Jim and Antonia that is formed and broken throughout her novel My Antonia. The two characters meet at young age and begin to develop a ------- friendship. Jim teaches Antonia the language and culture of America while Antonia shares her culture and morals. Soon their respective friendship turns into a brother-sister relationship, an ardent love but not intimate.
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125.10.2/sections/h2.1