In the past, critics have ad moralized and/or brutalized every writer they could get their pen on. This is seen from criticisms of Henry Adams to William Butler Yeats. These writers critique everything about the writer and his/her works. For instance many critics criticize Willa Cather’s novel, My Antonia. Their criticisms lie on the basis … Read more
William Cather showed a great amount of information about the “old wild west” and the expansion of the United States. In My Antonia, Jim Burden told a story of his childhood, the people in his life, and the struggles he and his surroundings faced during this time. At age ten, Jim Burden was sent by … Read more
My Antonia has been called nostalgic and elegiac because it celebrates the past. The inscription on the title page of My Antonia is a quotation from Virgil: \”Optima dies… prima fugit. \” This sentence, meaning \”the best days are first to flee\”, helps incorporate all the elements of the novel I would like to discuss. … Read more
The Inability to Provide for His Family, and Why it Drove Mr. Shimerda to Suicide My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is a novel about Jim Burden and his relationship and experiences growing up with Antonia Shimerda in Nebraska. Throughout the book Jim reflects on his memories of Nebraska and the Shimerda family, often times in … Read more
Boys will be boys is a clich often used when males exemplify the traits of wild, abandoned exploration, or use poor judgment in situations due to a desire to fulfill self. These traits, however, are seen as great downfalls and serious cause for concern should females display the same characteristics. Willa Cather beautifully portrays characters … Read more
My Antonia My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is a novel of family devotion. It takes place in the small western town of Black Hawk, Nebraska. The main character of the story, ‘Antonia Shimerda, is thrust as a young girl from her own native country into the American prairies. While still a child, she must deal … Read more