"My Antonia" recalls the life of Jim Burden and retells the compelling story of the Shimerdas, with a special focus on Antonia, the girl who works in the fields like a man. Antonia Shemerda is a Bohemian immigrant to the Great Plains of America and serves embodiment of the classic American myth of a century ago. She arrives with her family in the Nebraska prairie to carve better lives for themselves from the untouched land as thousands before and

Jim met Antonia when she was fourteen and was four years younger. They were both uprooted from the familiar places of their birth and dropped into a wild new country. Everything to them is novel and exciting, and, except for little Yulka, there are no other children near. As a result, they share a unique kinship in the joys of exploration and discovery. They are also together during such traumatic occurences such as the killing of the snake and the deathbed horror tale of Pavel. Later in Black Hawk, Jim must share her with the Harlings, the hired girls, and various male escorts. Still, she maintains a strong and caring interest in Jim. He believes that she is the epitome of all that is joyful and desirable in the country girls.

"My Antonia" is, by no means, a variation on the age-old theme of boy meets girl and doesn't fall in love, as much as it is the story o mistrust and misconceptions, faith and fear, and above all else, a study of individual and always fragile human relationships. The devastating loneliness of Shimerda, his wife's whining and general unpleasantness, Ambrosch's sulky lack of courtesy, and even the painful shyness of Peter, all add to the already overwhelming odds stacked against the newcomers to the prairie. Nonetheless, many of them still succeed and that struggle and resulting success is what Cather holds up as their individual and collective great accomplishments.

Jim Burden shares Antonia's character traits of generosity, intelligence, independence, courage, and commitment t hard work. He is also a harshly judgmental man as can be seen when he shows his dislike for foreigners after Jake's fight with Ambrosch. He is also unreasonably angry when Antonia lets herself be deceived by Larry. He shows that he can also act selfishly, the most obvious example is his leaving Lena so abruptly and staying away for twenty years.

after them did. In the introduction, the character of Jim Burden declares that he has set down almost at random what he remembers of Antonia and the whole adventure of their childhood in Nebraska. As a result, the reader immediately understands that the story is not to be one of a tightly woven plot. It also establishes that the reader is hearing the story and reminiscing of just on individual and is certain to be colored by Jim's memories, attitudes, and time. Throughout all of the telling, despite the fact that she is not in every chapter, the reader learns that Antonia is strong, capable, and honest. In fact, she is what Jim Burden considers an example of the true spirit of America and what has made the country prosperous and great. For Jim, she exemplifies the clear, undaunted human soul.

Cather successfully evokes the plains of the American Midwest. Anyone who has driven across the vast openness of Nebraska sees the horizon broken only by farms and fields. She has also encapsul

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Approximate Word count = 1935
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)