Here are some particular things, pulled off the top of my head, to look at as we begin the novel:
- What is the effect of the narrative frame that Cather sets up at the outset?
- How does Cather set up her main character, the narrator?
- How does the novel set up, right at the beginning, the sense that this is a new novel, a story that is about a changed world, a story that is not being told in the traditional way?
- How does Cather handle description?
- How does the landscape function in the book?
- How does understatement work in the novel?
- How does the novel evoke emotion?
- How is the novel like, and unlike, the stories by Hemingway and the poems by Eliot, Williams and Pound that we will read--like them not only in technique, but in feeling, in theme?
- Do these techniques work for you? Do these feelings resonate with you?
As we go forward, I will post some of my thoughts, and I will post some of your thoughts, as well. Feel free to comment on any post, but please be thoughtful and considerate when you do, and please don't comment anonymously.
In the last paragraph of My Antonia, I think that it's serving to give the reader a sense that Jim is going into an unknown land, that he is leaving what he knows and venturing into new experiences. Jim notes how he feels "the world was left behind", that what was his life was know gone, that he was now going to a place which was "outside man's jurisdiction". Jim is showing that his previous perception of life was now distant, that where he was going was somewhere completely foreign, much like the Bohemian family on the train.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Jim experiences the vast and open landscape he is thrust into as somewhat limiting in its largeness. Jim feels that (as Ben said) he has left the world behind on his journey. In this way, it does limit him, because the immensity of it cuts him off from all that he knew, and perhaps even from his faith. The plains surround him, and he is covered by a "complete dome of heaven" that seems to enclose him. Jim also experiences the landscape as being so large as to make him insignificant, as if he had been "erased, blotted out".
ReplyDeleteI think an interesting part of the last paragraph is when Jim acknowledges the fact that he didn't say is night time prayers. I found this interesting because it gives us a look into both the past and present of his character. The "cavalier image" of the time was one of independence and new ideas. The idea of not saying nightly prayers is something very "new age" at the time and often very looked down upon. The fact that Jim does not pray that night gives the reader an idea about how different his new life will be; one of new routines and values.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what Ben Hyman said in the last paragraph the author gave us the reader a sense that Jim was going to an unknown place, a place where there was no fences, trees, etc. Everything Jim knew was gone (even his parents)and in the past. Jim wasn't the only that felt this way also. A Bohemian family that was also on the train were experiencing the same thing. They have to adopt to the changes that will occur.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shaquira that both Jim and the Bohemian family are going to an unknown place. Jim says that there is nothing to see. If there were nothing to see, why would he be anxious about starting a new life there? It's ironic that JIm says this, however, he is actually amazed by the difference between his past life and the plains. He is going to learn a lot about the changing sceneries, even if there appears to be "nothing."
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