Two Strong Individual Women Characters
Max McKeon
December 11, 2014
English 32L
Two Strong Individual Women Characters
In My Antonia, Willa Cather portrays the two characters of Antonia Shimerda and Lena Lingard as strong, proud, and forceful individuals. These two have similarities but at the same time they are two very different characters.
First off, in Jim’s nostalgic memoir of his childhood Antonia is a shy individual character, that doesn’t know where she belongs. Throughout the novel Antonia gradually escapes Jim’s emotional presentation to be a believable individual character. By the end of the novel some people believe that Antonia has made more of an impact than Jim. To add to this, many critics believe that in the last quarter of the novel, Antonia is the real protagonist. She is also a symbol for freedom and beauty in the Nebraskan landscape. Jim always described her beauty, perkiness, and extreme generosity; because of this, Jim is attracted and fascinated by Antonia. For example Jim describes Antonia’s eyes as, “big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood.” (2.3.14) There was also a scene where Antonia places a bug into her hair for safekeeping. This symbolizes that Antonia grew out and is part of the landscape, just like the bug. Jim also describes Antonia as ‘unusually alive’, even at then end of the novel; when Antonia has ten children. The challenges that Antonia faces in this book wouldn’t make her the person she is now without these roadblocks. Antonia had to face being an outsider in Nebraska; she had to work as a servant when her family went hungry; her fiancé left her to raise a kid by herself; and many people of Black Hawk judged her for love dancing. Through all this, Antonia never lost her self-sufficiency and gracefulness, making her a well-rounded character. She is also a character who gets what she is given. She never takes things for granted and she always tries to make the best of her circumstances. For example, Antonia worked for
December 11, 2014
English 32L
Two Strong Individual Women Characters
In My Antonia, Willa Cather portrays the two characters of Antonia Shimerda and Lena Lingard as strong, proud, and forceful individuals. These two have similarities but at the same time they are two very different characters.
First off, in Jim’s nostalgic memoir of his childhood Antonia is a shy individual character, that doesn’t know where she belongs. Throughout the novel Antonia gradually escapes Jim’s emotional presentation to be a believable individual character. By the end of the novel some people believe that Antonia has made more of an impact than Jim. To add to this, many critics believe that in the last quarter of the novel, Antonia is the real protagonist. She is also a symbol for freedom and beauty in the Nebraskan landscape. Jim always described her beauty, perkiness, and extreme generosity; because of this, Jim is attracted and fascinated by Antonia. For example Jim describes Antonia’s eyes as, “big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood.” (2.3.14) There was also a scene where Antonia places a bug into her hair for safekeeping. This symbolizes that Antonia grew out and is part of the landscape, just like the bug. Jim also describes Antonia as ‘unusually alive’, even at then end of the novel; when Antonia has ten children. The challenges that Antonia faces in this book wouldn’t make her the person she is now without these roadblocks. Antonia had to face being an outsider in Nebraska; she had to work as a servant when her family went hungry; her fiancé left her to raise a kid by herself; and many people of Black Hawk judged her for love dancing. Through all this, Antonia never lost her self-sufficiency and gracefulness, making her a well-rounded character. She is also a character who gets what she is given. She never takes things for granted and she always tries to make the best of her circumstances. For example, Antonia worked for