In the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather, the audience is reunited with the fundamentals that offer a helping hand in shaping a healthy outlook on life. Lives may be destroyed, people may change for the worse, and disappointment may become an emotion you grow to understand all too well, but the one emotional item that you will irrevocably have embedded within you are the past memories and experiences that have molded you into the individual you have become and brought you the happiness and humor to last a lifetime. Jim Burden is an orphan who has moved to Black Hawk, Nebraska to be under the watchful eyes of his grandparents. Upon his arrival, he meets the Shimerdas, a family that has recently moved in next door. As children who are close in age generally tend to do Jim and the Shimerda’s eldest daughter, Antonia, leach onto one another through th
e warm Nebraskan summers and learn and grow together through their troublesome lifestyles on their own terms. Somehow, the personalities of the many unique characters contrast quite beautifully in each other’s presence. The obstacles they encounter while growing up lead to Jim and Antonia gracefully growing apart from each other while always keeping the beautiful memories they have shared together near and dear to their hearts, symbolization plays a key role in displaying these many complicated factors to this novel’s audience.
The particularly positive outlook acquired by the character of Antonia not only serves itself as being overall healthy for Antonia and the people with whom she comes into contact with but necessary for the individuals in which she is condemned in spending her every-day life with. Antonia’s father, Mr. Shimerda, is a character who continuously is dependent and emotionally taken care of by others due to his negative and useless outlook on life. Mr. Shimerda goes through a deep depression while going through the process of becoming acquainted and comfortable with the town of Black Hawk and his discouraging and overwhelming feelings in attempting to change the poverty his family must endure. This makes fortunate the constant happiness and determination Antonia has to change her family’s lifestyle. Thanks to Antonia’s naturally acquired positivism, she keeps her father alive as long as possible but because of her father’s depression and the sudden death of his two friends, he gives up and kills himself. This was inevitable from the start regardless of all the excessive positivism Antonia had managed to exude for his benefit.
‘Eyes are the gates to one’s soul’, this cliché statement has been stated time and time again, but how often has it been proven? This statement i
s successfully proven by the use of figurative language. “big and warm and full of light, like the sun, shining on brown pools in the wood.” This description of Antonia’s eyes made by Jim is in itself, the exact definition of the character of Antonia, for Antonia is ‘warm’, and ‘full of light’. It captures who she really is as well as the liking Jim has for her. The descriptive writing of Antonia’s eyes is stated early on in the novel in order to foreshadow to the audience the endearing relationship they will soon read about.
Every young child enjoys the unpredictability of the country, especially when they have their closest companion by their side constantly. My Antonia takes place in the country and prairies in which many of the memories between Jim and Antonia are taken place. It represents the adolescence of Jim and Antonia and the freedom these two characters feel and experience when venturing off into the wilderness.
Jim and Antonia experience the stress of adolescence in each other’s presence, which can make this process even more stressful. One day, while strolling through the prairie with Antonia, Jim comes into contact with a poisonous snake and impressively kills it before it can cause any damage to him or Antonia. Jim sees this as a very significant right of passage for him into adulthood, and with Antonia there to experience it with him, Jim feels her ‘complimentary’ comments to be passive-aggressive. This takes away from this would-be important experience. It teaches the audience the different affection that is necessary for males and females.
Time moves on, and through the midst of difficult obstacles, even when it seems unbearably possible…happ
iness is found. As time moves on, Jim goes to college and Antonia is stuck to work in the country to take the place of her father-who so selfishly committed suicide. Living in tough conditions, Antonia turns to a man named Larry Donovan who gets her pregnant and takes off. On a visit back home, Jim finds himself to feel very disappointed in what his childhood companion has become. Jim finds himself a way to overcome these feelings and he visits Antonia to what turns out to be a very emotionally uplifting reunion. They leave on good terms and 20 years later, Jim finds Antonia to be happily married with many children. Everything will change, but the summers spent exploring the prairie will remain a constant.
With the many obstacles people endure, the best way to overcome them is to stay positive and associate yourself with the individuals whom wish to see you succeed. For they are the ones who will treasure you, remember you, and keep you within their memories no matter what turn their lives may take. These significant memories will manage to bring a smile to anyone’s face regardless of the troubles life has dealt them with.
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