The novel, My Antonia, begins with Jim Burden, who is a New York City Lawyer. He gives a friend his journal of his Nebraska childhood. It is in the form of memories from a friend, Ántonia Shimerda. Jim starts his story in Nebraska when he was 10 years old. He had arrived to live with his grandparents after his parents die in Virginia. Jim first sees the Shimerdas on his trip towards Nebraska. They are a Bohemian immigrant family who were on the same train. When he arrives, he discovers that the Shimerdas have taken up residence in farm adjoining his grandparents. Jim becomes quick friends Ántonia; the Shimerdas around his age who has a passion to learn English. Jim decides to tutor Ántonia in her English teachings. Most of their time together is spent in the hills enjoying each other’s company. However, the mood shifts with the suicide of Mr. Shimerda. The Burdens find it difficult to connect with the Shimerdas, but try to be helpful as they can. As a result of the suicide, Ántonia and Jim find that they cannot stand each other. Several years after the suicide, the Burdens move to town. By chance, Ántonia becomes a maid to the family next door to the Burden’s, the Harlings. Jim…
In the novel My Ántonia, there are two main characters. There are many other characters who are related to one another in some way. The characters connect to the story and tie the novel all together so that the novel makes sense throughout. The main characters are Jim Burden who is the author, and Antonia Shimerda.…
Willa Cather’s My Ántonia narrates childhood stories from the perspective of Jim Burden, and focuses on his relationship with his close childhood friend Ántonia. Both of the characters move to Nebraska at the same time, and influence each other's lives greatly. Jim Burden grows up to have a deep connection and longing for his past and repeatedly renews the relationships between close friends and hometown.…
The strong commentary on Christianity in Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible is strongly evident throughout the novel. The narrative itself is divided into books' that mirror those of the Bible, including: Genesis, The Revelation, and Exodus. Throughout the progression of the novel, the structure of the novel strays from a biblical reflection with the addition of new books' which denote Kingsolver's personal appellations. Kingsolver's characters each represent a different attitude towards Christianity. This suggests that Kingsolver's rewriting of the Christian text and adapting it to her own story is in response to the will and progression of her characters.…
While reading the novel, 'My Antonia', one can very quickly notice that author, Willa Cather has much admiration for the character, Antonia. Throughout 'My Antonia', readers can conclude that Antonia is a very optimistic and inteligent girl who grows into an independent young woman. Due to such characteristics, many people could very easily find themselves admiring Antonia.…
The Sermon in the Mount delivered by Jesus defines the important values of Religion. As the founder of Christian religion, Jesus, in his sermon, presented the evidences of ethics behavior of Christians, which are forgiveness, humility, Justice, love and perseverance. Agreeing to Jesus’ sermon, forgiveness must characterize Christians. In fact, Christian must forgive at the level of accepting a recidivist behavior. According to Jesus “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”. In addition humility is a requirement of Christians. Christians prove their humility by asking forgiveness even if they did not offense someone. As Jesus declared, if “your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front…
Antonia was very loving and caring. She was a great mother and did everything she could to give her children all that they Needed. When Jim visited her family Antonia told Jim “you wouldn’t believe what it takes to feed them all”. Although it was difficult at times she kept her children fed and did whatever she had to do to keep it that way! This was strictly out of love and care for her family. Antonia is a very admirable person in this story. I can see why Cather admires her so much .Antonia is a prime example of how girls should act, hardworking, respectful, beautiful (inside and out), loving, caring, ambitious, family oriented, and much more. In this book, I have the utmost respect for Antonia and of all the things she has done for others and accomplished. Antonia was never a quitter and…
What a Christian does is as important as what they say when it comes to sharing the goodness of God with others.…
The most common advice given to novice writers is to ‘write what you know’. Although cliche, and sometimes unappealing to authors who want to expand and diversify their writing, this tip holds its credibility. When an author draws from personal experience, it not only makes her writing more genuine and convincing, but also allows gives her an outlet to express her unique struggles, desires, and beliefs. Willa Cather’s My Antonia is a poignant romantic novel about westward expansion, following the story of recently orphaned Jim Burden and his childhood in Nebraska. The parallels between the most impactful events in Jim’s life and that of Cather’s become glaringly obvious when the two are compared. Willa Cather shapes Jim’s story in My Antonia…
“Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again”; this quote by Willa Cather expresses the relationship that the past can have on humans. Some would argue that the past has no role in My Antonia, almost as if the overall lesson of the novel had gone right over their head. Willa Cather has written the whole novel in flashback form, and this has a great effect on the reader. She is trying to show that you can learn from your past, if you grasp what you can, while you have the ability to do so. She adopts a very Thoreau-like outlook on life; “Carpe diem”.…
My Antonia is a book written by Willa Cather. Willa Cather uses many different symbols from nature in her writing. She would use the symbols from nature to symbolize other aspects of the characters lives. One example of Willa Cather using nature symbols is the light. Cather uses light to refer to change.…
4. The Question of Morality - Christians acknowledge man’s shortcomings and the need for morality and forgiveness (Romans 3:23). According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “moral” means concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior. To a Christian, the definition of moral behavior comes directly from the Bible. Moral behavior is obedience to God’s commands. According to Psalms 51:5, Christians believe that man is a sinner from the moment he is…
Symbolism My Antonia is chock full of symbolism, effectively representing and delivering the messages and ideas Cather intended to -- from often overlooked fundamentals of life with greater meanings, to the value of new opportunities, to even the hardship of death. One of the most overlooked symbols in My Antonia is also one of the most fundamental elements of life. Every metamorphosis in the story's plot is marked by a vivid illustration of the light around the characters.…
Wrongful convictions can happen, they should be looked at more by the system as more of a tragedy, but they do happen. In the criminal justice system there are so many different aspects and loop holes that effect the outlook on crime, let alone the convictions that happen. If we can look at all of the good that this system brings. All of the restitution paid, all of the criminals who committed a crime and have served what they deserve. I feel as if we can look so strongly at all of the good, we need to also look at the bad more intensely. The bad is what goes on the news. The bad is what makes cops, prosecutors, and judges look bad. On this task force, I want to review different aspects of our system that can be strongly correlated with wrongful…
Darwin was not the first to suggest that life has evolved over time. In fact, there has been other researchers suggesting there theory. For instance, during 610-546 B.C. a Greek philosopher named Anaximander was one of the first to suggest that life-forms evolved from fish in the seas for this he went through a process of modification once established on land. Also, in the year 1735 Carl Linnaeus published his book, Systema Naturae in which he outlined a method for classifying all organisms. Darwin’s contribution was later acknowledged. Darwin’s most famous theory is called natural selection—stating evolutionary change derives through production of variation within generation and different survival of individuals with different [variation]…