Comparing Carl Sandburg's Chicago And Willa Cather´s My Antonia

The American frontier is a term used to delineate the history of the creation of America. It is a tale of survival, persistence, and the merging of peoples and cultures that gave birth and continuing life to America. For hundreds of years the United States has been attracting immigrants with its promise of freedom and opportunity. Unfortunately, though many contributed to what makes America so great through their role as laborers, caretakers and pioneers on the frontier, the promise of freedom and opportunity were unattainable for many due to barriers created to prevent their success–several examples of which are found in Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” and Willa Cather’s My Ántonia. Through the physical struggle for survival, the social battle between

Chicago seemed to represent all that was good in the gritty early twentieth century. Though criticized for its reliance on industrial manufacturing and the evil this reliance creates, the city was home to a vibrant and proud populous. However, in a rag to riches approach (much like how immigrants start off in America), Sandburg begins the poem with a collection of opposing set of adjectives to describe Chicago–wicked, crooked, and brutal. Sandburg does not deny that these adjectives are present in the city. In fact, he agrees that they are, saying “yes, it is true” (Sandburg). But in lines 12-13, he fights back, for these negative terms are not the only words that describe the city. To Sandburg, Chicago is alive and strong: a powerful, fierce city defined by the spirit of its people. He challenges those who “sneer” at the city in lines 15-16, saying “come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.” It is in this spirit that Chicago is validated. The “sweaty,” tired and “half-naked” laborer smiles and laughs with “dust all over his mouth,” holding strong to the promise of freedom and opportunity (Sandburg). To Sandburg, “Chicago” is more than a poem. Through this work, he defies the social institutions of his time, crying out and advocating for the

You see, Ántonia is a symbol. She is representative of the group of immigrants who helped to develop the American West. Her strength, spirit, and sheer will are a tribute to the fearlessness and determination of this historically important set of individuals. Much like the “half-naked,” “sweaty” and “husky” laborers in Sandburg’s “Chicago,” the hired girls toil endlessly in order to make ends meet and provide for their families (Sandburg). My Ántonia takes place at a turning point in American history, when the unsettled lands of the frontier attracted many hopeful settlers eager to make a fresh start. Though they are treated poorly and will never achieve the same economic and social standings as the native women of Black Hawk, the hired girls are vital to the success of the American frontier. Similar to the ways in which the laborers survive the “wicked” city in “Chicago,” the hired girls are trying to survive the harsh realities of the frontier (Sandburg). For example, in book II, chapter IX, we read about the three Marys–hired girls that used to work in Black Hawk. All three women were taken advantage of and impregnated by the men of the families they worked for; because of this, they are seen as dangerous and a “menace to the social order” (201). “Yet people saw no difference between her and the three Mary’s; they were all Bohemian’s, all