February 2009 Host: Colleen

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Summary

This is the story of Antonia, a Bohemian immigrant, as told by Jim Burden. Jim and Antonia meet by chance on a train when Jim is ten years old and Antonia is fourteen. Having been recently orphaned, Jim is moving to Nebraska to be with his grandparents while Antonia and her family are emigrating to the Great Plains from Bohemia. Woven throughout this tale of their friendship and love is the harshness and occasional beauty of living on the prairie. The story follows Jim and Antonia through their hard yet happy childhoods through their teen years. Jim eventually leaves for the big city and Antonia marries. They meet again twenty years later. This story combines history and American tradition and the pioneers’ need to both live in harmony with the plains and at times, conquering the land. My Antonia is a reflection on the author’s past experiences, the American pioneer spirit, and the immigrant experience.

Discussion

-This was a true piece of literature and we all enjoyed it. There seemed to be no end to the points that could (and did!) be brought up for discussion.

-The author’s description of life on the prairie was rich and descriptive enough so that you felt that you were on the prairie-the imagery the author was able to invoke was impressive. She took it one step further in that the prairie was almost treated as a main character with many parallels to Antonia.

-The story was told by one of the main characters in the story and it was noted that the author could have used this method of telling the story to selectively choose what parts of the story to focus on - it does add an element of realism.

-The women in the novel are all strong and complex - Antonia can work the land as hard as any man. The background information given on the author includes a bit about her own personal life such as her having never been married and having close relationships with other women. We felt the strength she had to have had to live her life so unconventionally in the early 1900s was poured into Antonia’s character.

-Although the prairie, Jim, and Antonia are constants in the novel, the author incorporates darker parts of life such as death, suicide, salaciousness, and mental illness into the story.