How Does Willa Cather Characterize Antonia

In My Antonia, Willa Cather pens a nostalgic story focused on a two people with a unique connection. Jim Burden narrates the story of Antonia Shimerda, the girl next door who happens to be a Bohemian emigrant. Jim moves to his grandparents’ house after his parents die; Antonia arrives in the United States with her family and little else. The two are vastly different, but bond quickly on the Nebraska prairie. Most people who study the novel acknowledge the obvious impact that Antonia has on Jim and see Antonia as “in one way or another, the center of the novel” (Lucenti).

Minerva is making a sacrifice by giving up her son to her sister; Patria isn 't ready to do so, but expresses her support for her sister 's movement. Her ominous words are foreshadowing. It lets the reader know that things are intense and that they are only going to require even more sacrifice from the characters. She is going to be traveling a lot on the road, and coming back weekly for her revolutionary activities. Patria, ever the mother, at first doesn 't understand how anyone could give up their child, because the time and sacrifice it takes to raise and take care of one is already enough.

One can see that she did not give up, and her courage and perseverance only grew.

Maria Boyd’s novel “Will” clearly demonstrates and showcases multiple existing values, beliefs and ideologies. One such theme which we constantly see is that of depression. Throughout the novel, this theme is challenged and developed on. One such example Will, the protagonist, and his one sided conversations with his deceased father. This constant reminiscence of his father are only present in the latter half of the book when the theme of depression is much more prevalent.

“Paul's Case” by Willa Cather is a complex story, with a variety of symbolism, as well as a few underlying messages. Cather creates a selfish, yet artistically appreciative main character that dislikes his own social class and confuses the readers. Paul is a young teenage boy, who works as an usher and loves the opera and art. He has a deep longing to belong to the upper class, and he steals money from his father to achieve this dream. Unfortunately, when he realizes that he cannot sustain this way he takes his own life.

It didn’t matter to her that she would fail. It mattered that she was able to choose her decisions for herself and not having other people to do it for her. She was bullied, pushed to the brink, but still she never gave up on

Antonia is a curious person by nature, always wanting to learn. She wants to learn the ways of the West, while learning English. The names of the native plants, and the color of the sky are things that she comes to know. Though, at first, it was tough for her because she could only gesture towards thing, she is able to learn them. And, she seems to relish in the fact that she now knows them, and that she can pronounce them correctly.

This quote obviously shows her mental toughness because if she wasn’t, she would’ve never been able to come all the way from Mexico without giving up. Without her mental toughness she never would’ve been capable of the things that she has done.

Challenges of Immigration: The Shimerda’s Struggle Willa Cather’s novel, My Ántonia sheds light on the topic of immigration. Immigrants have many different reasons for why they might migrate to the United States. Some were trying to escape something from their old country such as avoiding a war, trouble with the law, or shame as is the case of the Russians Pavel and Peter. Reasons for immigrating could also relate to chasing the American dream as is the case with the Shimerdas.

This made her a consistent and reliable person throughout the

Mayella was was just a poor girl who had never been to school a day in her life and suffered so much abuse from her father, she didn’t give herself the opportunity to be powerful. In a time of oppression and depression Mayella standing up would have been a monumental change but she never seized it and took advantage, she let everyone else take advantage of

My Antonia: Jim and Tony’s Unrequited Relationship “I’d like you to have you for a sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother or my sister, anything that a woman can be to a man (206).” Jim Burden, a young man, narrated his memories and friendship with a young immigrant named Antonia Shimerda. My Antonia was a novel that showed incapable relationship between two characters, but displayed the real beauty and love in life. Willa Cather’s book illustrated how the main characters created a strong friendship, but, were separated from a relationship by societal norms and expectations.

In the book My Antonia, the characters developed a lot throughout the story, but one character development that stood out to me was Antonia Shimerda. Antonia's character developed so much in this novel, she becomes a more independent character, but that's only because of the challenges she faced when she moved from Bohemia, her dad committed suicide, she had to work as a servant girl and when her fiancé left her. In the beginning of the novel, Antonia and her family are welcomed into Nebraska. They stay next to Jim Burden and his grandparents, they are the ones who welcomed them.

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.

Willa Cather’s short story, “Paul’s Case” is about a young man who is determined to make his aspirations a reality by all means necessary. That meant being deceitful as a start of gaining control and social status and telling lies to get to where he felt like he belonged, but where did he belong? This desire was the beginning of a journey that would eventually leave him with nothing. There is something unusual about Paul, something that can only be explained by his demeanor and actions throughout the story. With that said, I intend to construct a complete character analysis of Paul as he searches for satisfaction.