As you read Willa Cather's novel, 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. --EC
Monday, February 28, 2011
Last paragraph of first chapter
Comment on a part of the last paragraph of chapter 1 (or comment on someone else's comment): How does this great paragraph set the emotional and intellectual stage for the rest of the novel?
The last paragraph of the first chapter brings out the importance of nature. The constant explanation of "no land" gives the reader the impression that Antonia's life may be similar to what Jim experiences on his road to his grandparents house. Jim explains how he isn't going to even pray tonight because there is no god above the earth he is on. Jim's emotional state may be a foreshadow of how Antonia is going to feel when she arrives at her destination in Nebraska. The whole description of going over the edge of the world gives the reader a feel for how life in Nebraska is.
The last paragraph of the first chapter of "My Ántonia" deals with the individual's place in the vast American plane. Jim is used to the friendly confines of Virginia, and even though the state is still a vast land it is fenced in by familiar natural landmarks. When he moves West he feels he is in a whole different world. He does not seem to violently react to this move, but rather solemnly accepts his new home as a change he cannot control.
The last paragraph of the chapter alludes to the idea that Jim is in search for himself and a new life away from what he knew. It shows how, like the new frontier of the north west, Jim is now open to a new many opportunities for life experiences as well as lessons. However, the last line introduces the notion that despite the number of opportunities Jim will have to follow a certain way of life and separate himself from the otherwise experimental life of Ántonia. -Lena Capece
The last paragraph in chapter I of "My Ántonia" describes Jim's discomfort while venturing out into the great plains of Nebraska. Jim has left behind everything familiar to him-his native state of Virginia, his friends, and the Appalachian Mountains. Recently an orphan, Jim is forced to leave his home in Virginia and live with his grandparents in Nebraska. While traveling by train and wagon to his grandparents' farm, Jim realizes that everything he had previously lived for no longer exists. In the midst of an existential crisis, Jim is able to let go of his pervious identity and begin anew. He disregards establishing direction and focus in his life and is just able to live.
The last paragraph seems to really set a tone which is not so pleasant. A young man has just been forced to leave all that he knows best, and it is an uncomfortable setting in many ways. It felt uncomfortable to me because it felt like I was simply looking down upon someone who was going through one of the biggest changes in their life and i felt sorry for Jim. Not only has he been orphaned but in addition he is being forced to leave his native land. I found it interesting that he was able to put himself in a mindset which really seemed as though he was ready for change and not afraid of it. Being able to put yourself into a mindset similar to the one that jim is putting himself into in the last paragraph is a great attribute that sets the stage for this character later in the book. I think this will be a great attribute to look at as we delve deeper into the story.
Jim's sudden migration challenges his individualism and yields not the typical humane reaction, as Dan said. When Jim says, "I felt erased, blotted out," he admits that he feels out of place; lost. Jim either feels no need to pray or he downright refuses to because the familiar forces he relied on, including spiritual beings - God, perhaps - and his dead parents, have not accompanied him on his journey to Nebraska, regardless of whether they chose to stay or could not leave the premises. Instead of prayer, Jim thinks: C'est la vie; go with the flow.
The last paragraph in chapter I of "My Ántonia" describes Jim's discomfort while venturing out into the great plains of Nebraska. Jim has left behind everything familiar to him-his native state of Virginia, his friends, and the Appalachian Mountains. Recently an orphan, Jim is forced to leave his home in Virginia and live with his grandparents in Nebraska. While traveling by train and wagon to his grandparents' farm, Jim realizes that everything he had previously lived for no longer exists. In the midst of an existential crisis, Jim is able to let go of his pervious identity and begin anew. He disregards establishing direction and focus in his life and is just able to live.
The first chapter of “My Antonia” sets the intellectual and emotional stage for the novel by establishing the completely new future that Jim Burden faces. As exemplified by the feeling of nothingness and of non-existence that Jim gets when looking at the sky in Nebraska, Jim has left everything behind. He is, in a sense, an immigrant, facing a fresh new start. This presumably allows Jim to make emotional connections with another “immigrant” to the town where his grandparents live, Antonia. Although Antonia is from a completely different culture, the isolation and ruralness of the landscape that the two of them both face might possibly have an intellectual effect as well, as the descriptions in the novel give a sense of reflection. With the introduction of a new time and a new place, Hather allows herself substantial room to maneuver her characters in; she has no obligation to the past, only the future of her characters (though interestingly, the whole novel is a recollection of the past.)
The last paragraph characterizes the American wilderness and offers a metaphor into Jim's situation. The narrator gives his account of how dark the night-time is, how empty. He is travelling to a place he has never been, and it is striking to him how vast the space is, not yet taken up and made into countries. This is similar to Jim's own situation. Forced to strike out on his own, his life becomes a blank slate as he heads out west, and, like the surrounding countryside, watches things form out of the darkness that do not yet exist.
Slightly mysterious; convincing, yet on second glance, not quite right; detached; - all can describe both the last paragraph of the first chapter of The Shimerdas and, in my opinion, Jim's impression of Antonia. From the rest of chapter I, the reader gets a sort of impression that Jim (or at least Jake) has been brought up in a way in which he thinks foreigners are "other". To a young ten-year-old boy who has not yet gotten over the shock of being orphaned (we can tell it hasn't really hit him yet by the detached tone he uses while discussing them), being near a foreign girl nearly his age could very well seem like a dream, something imagined, something like what he thinks of Nebraska. His description of the state in the last paragraph gives off the feeling of something half formed, almost like a precursor to an idea. One of my favorite sentences from this paragraph, "There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made," made me think of Native American creation myths, almost as if this was a vestige of what existed before the world was born. This sentence didn't seem strange to me until I reread it and thought about its meaning, which brought a paraphrased Inception quote to mind: in a dream, nothing seems strange until you wake up. This imbued this paragraph with a dreamlike quality for me. I think these same sort of feelings and impressions will also be associated with Antonia - strange in a way you can't exactly put your finger on, folksy (she's coming from Bohemia), mystical, and not fully understood.
As Catherine said, Cather begins her story very much at the beginning of a new story for her own characters, in a setting that leaves them unhindered by the material aspects of their pasts, from familiar places and objects to communities and parents. The significant lack of familiarity in the landscape in addition to physically leaving behind his previous life is presumably what leads Jim to say that "I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had got over the edge of it, and were outside man's jurisdiction", along with the impressive emptiness of the region. This last paragraph certainly embodies the widespread american sentiment of the final frontier: the west. As Cather published her book in 1918, the West was dwindling, and in 1920 the US census declared america completely settled, so in a way this sense of loss that many americans felt is mirrored by the losses Jim has suffered, which took away the things that defined him (many contemporary and current historians have stated that the US was truly defined by its frontier, socially, politically, and economically, much as one is by one's family). The West was always seen as a place to start fresh, and for Jim it is most certainly that (although not by choice), and for him it is everything and nothing, completely unmarked territory, both literally and metaphorically. This last paragraph sets up the story as one of loss and not just moving on, but actually leaving it behind in the past.
In the last paragraph of the chapter, Jim is expressing his feelings toward his old enviornment, with nothing but land and also his old surroundings. He feels lonely and erased from the earth just because he is going into a new kind of territory and enviornment. This shows how Antonia is feeling also and it sets the this story on how Antonia is going to adjust to her new life seperating herself from old traditions and rituals. -Harry Bai
The last paragraph of the chapter makes it seem as though the narrator is very surprised by the landscape and the area of Nebraska, and how it is so much different from back in Virginia. He describes Nebraska as this very plain and boring place with nothing, but the foundation and materials out of which a country could be made. He was not used to land like this so wide open and flat with only a few small hills every once in awhile. The narrator is going to have to get used to this new environment that he will be living in and this will have a big effect on his lifestyle and because of that, the events in the book. Another thing that he may have to get used to is his parents not being in heaven above him, because he says that there is a new heaven in Nebraska, one different from back in Virginia. Because of this, he may have to let go of the past to embrace the future. -CQ
The last paragraph of the first chapter serves as a new beginning of sorts for the characters. It puts them in a setting in which they, as well as the reader, are completely new. This allows the reader along with the character to go through a similar emotional journey. Along with starting with a so-called "blank slate"she surprisingly for the time casts off g-d. She does not go as far as to say g-d does not exist, but the main character speaks of the very untamed, and resilient nature of the land itself, in which g-d has a smaller place. Also of note is her description of the land as more than just land. Treating it almost as if it is an autonomous force which acts of its own accord.
As Catherine said, the last paragraph of the chapter has Jim experiencing what it feels like to be detached from his surroundings and going through nearly the same thing as the immigrant family also on their way to Black Hawk. By being in a place so far away from what was recognized as home by Jim, he left all things familiar and "...even [his deceased parents'] spirits behind..." This loss of familiar surroundings is reinforced by the fact that Jim sees "nothing but land" and so in this new place, there is not so much as "nothing" as there is a lack of something. This sets the tone that Jim is not yet buoyed to this place, but throughout the novel he will eventually form ties to the land and people around him, and instead of believing that "what would be would be," and that he has no control over his life, he will grow emotionally. This sets the tone that growth and change within Jim are the things that the reader will notice throughout. - Olga
Last paragraph, it makes them feel like they are at the end of the world, or at least the end of human influence of the world. Everything from Jim's life is left behind and a new one has begun. Now that is done, LOLOLOL WELCOME TO THE INTERWEBS!!!1111!!!
The last paragraph of the first chapter is enlightening in a way. I relate it to Walden Pond in the sense that it is blank openness available for a new start. Because Jim feels that his new life here is nothing; no country, away from his parents, no familiar cultural surroundings, he has the ability to make anything happen for himself. I think this last paragraph is more of an individual experience awaiting Jim. Jim says that he won't be praying that night and that pulls himself away from spiritual and into a more isolated atmosphere for his own self improvement.
I believe that the last paragraph of chapter one is not only a metaphor for Jim's new life in the west but also one for his emotional state and Future. Not Only has Jim been removed from his home in Virginia but his parents have passed away. This should be a traumatic event leaving a empty void in Jim's life. It is strange that he acts to simply. He seems like a statue or a blank slate. This is similar to the landscape that he describes. His life is now empty also, losing everything it seems dark and hopeless. He does not know what to do, he cannot see what path to take. He describes not being able to see the road ahead in the all consuming darkness of the night. But his future might be bright like the stars. He does say that there is nothing there but land. This is cheesy I know but that land can be cultivated there are no obstacles just endless opportunities as far as the eyes can see. Nigel
In the part of the paragraph where it says that he did not think that his mother and father would be looking for him in Nebraska I take that he thinks that he doesn’t belong in Nebraska. This comes to no surprise considering the huge difference between Virginia and Nebraska described. Why then if he seemingly says he does not belong would he say that he isn’t homesick? On the exterior it would seem that he’s acting like a tough guy and he doesn’t care that he doesn’t belong in Nebraska. Other parts of the paragraph show that too. He says at the end that “what would be would be” displaying an ambivalent attitude to hardships that could fall on him. He also says it does not matter if he “arrives nowhere”. All he really does claim to feel is “blotted out” and “erased”. To me, this seems like that the big iceberg of this paragraph is that Jim, while outwardly just indifferent is actually pretty terrified and nervous of what is to become of him in the future.
The last paragraph of the first chapter or My Antonia is a blank portrait from which the reader can infer what will happen next. Jim's mind is dramatic and wild which creates a sense of foreboding. Like the Nebraska plain the last paragraph of the chapter is a barren and blank landscape void of anything substantial. There is no country in this last chapter just land. --Nathan
Jim Burden is apparently overwhelmed by this new experience. The land, to him, was this mystical place that was illuminated by the faint "starlight." He used the word "undulating," which means to have this wavelike motion, and thus this trip seems to have a dreamlike quality for him. He is feeling lost, because he is leaving behind his home and his life. (Ever get the heart-wrenching feeling when you move your home?) He doesn't see any familiar ridges, which, for us, equates to not seeing any familiar faces. As Layla mentioned, he is in shock from the death of his parents as can be seen from his monotonous, detached, and robotic tone. In the last sentence, "what would be would be" shows that he has given up on thinking of plans; he is just going to wing it and not plan ahead. After all, he is still in shock. His mind hasn't wrapped itself around the gravity of the situation. It sets the tone because we know that, in time, he would have to face reality, and snap out of his reverie.
Willa Cather is really trying set the scene for the book right off the bat. She gives us this on-going description of the new scene saying “nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, or hills or fields” and repeats this time stereotypical view of a landscape that you would expect in these rural states such as Nebraska. I don’t think it is a really risky chapter ending paragraph but it is written in a way in which its colors are more vivid than its surrounding context. There is definitely a point trying to be made, one that really sets the tone off and I think it would be safe to say that the rest of the book would take place in these rural parts. The paragraph seems to reach out to nature and rural life and I think this is a huge theme that would be focused on throughout the rest of the book. Andrew Chan wrote this!!!
The last paragraph of chapter one sets the emotional and intellectual stage for the rest of the book. Jimmy does this by his distinict point of view and tone on the surroundings. He gives the reader the impression that there is "nothing" in the surroundings. However, he says "nothing but land," this means that there is something. Jimmy goes on to say that their are no fields etc. but there is land. It is clear that Jimmy is taking on some thoughts that are deeper than they appear at the surface. It is possible that Jimmy feels like he is leaving his home and that he is overwhelmed with virtually starting over. - Cody Tipton
In the last paragraph of Chapter 1, Jim watches the scenery pass by as he journeys to the west. Not used to the landscape, he feels alone and disconnected from his family and home. At this point he feels like there is no destination. Wherever he ends up, it will not be his home. His parents won’t be there, and neither will his family. He figures nothing could be worse so he gives up all hope and leaves everything behind. He chooses not to pray perhaps because he believes there is no hope to bring back anything from his old life and he must start anew. --Hannah Breck
I agree with Tsi Yu when he said that Jim is extremely overwhelmed by his arrival in Nebraska. He has left any thing, place, and almost every person he is familiar with, and is simply a scared little kid. He doesn't really have anything to look forward to in this new place, where he is still recovering from his parents' deaths and where he won't have any friends. Jim feels lonely and abandoned, and very small in this big new world he is entering. He says that, "between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out." I think Jim is afraid of being forgotten and neglected because the assurance of his parent's love and care is gone. Without this assurance, as he expresses in the final sentence, anything, good or bad, could happen, and not even prayer can help him.
The last paragraph of chapter 1 of 'My Ántonia' sets the emotional stage of the book as very bleak and pessimistic. Everything about the paragraph strikes me as very negative. In the first part Jim talks about how uncomfortable his bed is, how much he aches, how he bites his tongue and how he can't sleep. All of this sets Jim's emotional state as very unhappy and annoyed. As the paragraph progresses Jim's emotional state becomes very bleak, and it seems as though he feels alone. Jim speaks about how he has left the world behind, left man's jurisdiction, and about how even his dead parents can not see him where he is. Jim also uses words such as hollow, nothing and faint, which match how hollow he feels in this new empty place. Overall, I see this paragraph as contrasting Jim's somewhat carefree attitude earlier in the book; Jim really does feel alone and unhappy in this new place.
I think this paragraph starting at "I had never before looked up at the sky..." to "But this was the complete dome of heaven" shows Jim's excitement for this new and different environment. The first part of the quote I referenced suggests that Jim really does not know anything different from what his life was in Virginia. This would explain his excitement for the new life that is about to unfold before him. I also think in that quote there is a sense of hopefulness. Jim seems quite optimistic about his new life. He believes that his new home in Nebraska is the "dome of heaven". He is even so sure about that that he does not feel the need to say his prayers. I am however a little confused as to why Jim is so ready to accept that his parents are not spiritually "in" Nebraska. It seems to me that a young kid would not let go of his diseased parents so quickly and unemotionally. And it seems that if Jim indeed does believe that Nebraska is the “dome of heaven” why doesn’t he think his parents will be there?
In the last Paragraph of chapter one in "My Antonia" I think Jim feels lost. He doesnt feel like there is anything better in the world waiting for him so everything comes across as empty. He my feel that because his parents arent around anymore that there is no one steering him in the right direction to succeed in the world. The country didnt seem like anything to him because it wasnt what he was used to back at home. I think it was reflecting what he felt in comparison to what he was actually seeing. Jim may be to overwhelmed by what is happening after his parents had died and he is not ready to let go and turn the page to the next chapter. -Erin Bridge
When I read the last paragraph of Chapter 1, I thought at first that Jim was sad to be leaving his home, Virginia. But as I read on, he did not expressly object to being driven away. In fact, it seemed to me that he was rather interested in finding something to look at. He said there was no fascinating landscape, just land that countries are made of. He was curious but disappointed. He wasn't eager to go anywhere, but he didn't seem to not want to go. Jim appeared to feel blank and empty- nothing compelling was happening and there was nothing interesting to look at. This leads me to think that instead of Jim being upset at leaving his home, he is curious like an explorer, looking to find something new. But he is also disappointed and discouraged when there is nothing; he seems to lose hope.
The final paragraph of the first chapter largely describes Jim's realizations while on his way out west. Early on in the story, the scene seems to be a great turning point in Jim's life, a character whom the reader just met. The reader is not acquainted with Jim's past life in Virgina, and yet Jim realizes that all that was once his life is being wiped away and describes it to the reader. What causes this deep realization, sudden for the reader, is what Jim sees around him. What is familiar for Jim to see has disappeared, replaced with the wide and daunting spaces of the west, along with the rest of the life he has left behind.
The last paragraph of Chapter 1 of "My Antonia" portrays a sad, weak, and lost Jim. Not only is he in a new location where "there was not a familiar mountain ridge," but he is is a new stage of his life where he is lost and confused. He has no parents, doesn't know anyone, and finds himself on a journey quite similar to the immigrant family headed the same direction as him. This paragraph sets Jim up as a lost soul, and I suspect that he will find it, and find a reason to care and pray again as the book goes on.
The last paragraph of the first chapter shows Jim's wonder and awe at his surroundings, and serves to portray how dwarfed and completely alone he feels in what is now to be his home. I think that this is showing how Jim will feel during the rest of the novel; alone but in awe of nature, and, displayed by his not wanting to pray, accepting of fate and whatever happens to him.
Just as the vast lands of the far West were greatly romanticized for the idea of endless possibilities, just a few decades before this book was published, perhaps this final paragraph and Jim's description of the land represents the great possibilities of events to occur in this story. However, whether these possible events will be positive or negative is unknown, as emphasized by the confusion of the final paragraph. Though Jim refers to the land as "the dome of heaven," he also mentions feeling "erased" and perhaps lonely or nostalgic. Either way, Jim writes that "the wagon jolted on," carrying him somewhere he "knew not whither," just as this story may take us, the readers, deep into the text, wherever that may end up.
In the last paragraph of Chapter 1, Jim shows the reader that he is lost in this new environment. Throughout the paragraph, his tone remains hollow and without any hope. However, he claims that he could not see clearly because all he had to help him to see was the faint starlight. This shows that the reason that he is lost is only because his eyes have not adjusted to this new light. Slowly, as his eyes become used to only having the faint starlight, he will realize that this new home is not bland and he will no longer be lost. -Harry Ruther
In this paragraph it seems that Jim sees himself as leaving his old world behind and entering a world that is made up of nothing. The world that Jim had grown up with was full of life and spirit and recently in his life the land represented the last presence of his parents. But now that he has left his old home, in a way he is cutting a the last bond he has with his parents which is probably why he feels that this new land is so empty. He feels homesick because he misses his home, but he also feels homesick because he's channeling the grief of losing his parents because he just lost the last bond to his parents that he had.
For me the passage seems to be showing how different parts of America are and because of how different the Nebraskan landscape is from Virginia Jim feels that he is in another realm. Therefore things that had been true in Virginia, like the existence of God and his parents looking down on him from heaven, no longer have any meaning in this "new world."
The last paragraph of the first chapter brings out the importance of nature. The constant explanation of "no land" gives the reader the impression that Antonia's life may be similar to what Jim experiences on his road to his grandparents house. Jim explains how he isn't going to even pray tonight because there is no god above the earth he is on. Jim's emotional state may be a foreshadow of how Antonia is going to feel when she arrives at her destination in Nebraska. The whole description of going over the edge of the world gives the reader a feel for how life in Nebraska is.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of the first chapter of "My Ántonia" deals with the individual's place in the vast American plane. Jim is used to the friendly confines of Virginia, and even though the state is still a vast land it is fenced in by familiar natural landmarks. When he moves West he feels he is in a whole different world. He does not seem to violently react to this move, but rather solemnly accepts his new home as a change he cannot control.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Meyer
The last paragraph of the chapter alludes to the idea that Jim is in search for himself and a new life away from what he knew. It shows how, like the new frontier of the north west, Jim is now open to a new many opportunities for life experiences as well as lessons. However, the last line introduces the notion that despite the number of opportunities Jim will have to follow a certain way of life and separate himself from the otherwise experimental life of Ántonia. -Lena Capece
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph in chapter I of "My Ántonia" describes Jim's discomfort while venturing out into the great plains of Nebraska. Jim has left behind everything familiar to him-his native state of Virginia, his friends, and the Appalachian Mountains. Recently an orphan, Jim is forced to leave his home in Virginia and live with his grandparents in Nebraska. While traveling by train and wagon to his grandparents' farm, Jim realizes that everything he had previously lived for no longer exists. In the midst of an existential crisis, Jim is able to let go of his pervious identity and begin anew. He disregards establishing direction and focus in his life and is just able to live.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph seems to really set a tone which is not so pleasant. A young man has just been forced to leave all that he knows best, and it is an uncomfortable setting in many ways. It felt uncomfortable to me because it felt like I was simply looking down upon someone who was going through one of the biggest changes in their life and i felt sorry for Jim. Not only has he been orphaned but in addition he is being forced to leave his native land. I found it interesting that he was able to put himself in a mindset which really seemed as though he was ready for change and not afraid of it. Being able to put yourself into a mindset similar to the one that jim is putting himself into in the last paragraph is a great attribute that sets the stage for this character later in the book. I think this will be a great attribute to look at as we delve deeper into the story.
ReplyDeleteJim's sudden migration challenges his individualism and yields not the typical humane reaction, as Dan said. When Jim says, "I felt erased, blotted out," he admits that he feels out of place; lost. Jim either feels no need to pray or he downright refuses to because the familiar forces he relied on, including spiritual beings - God, perhaps - and his dead parents, have not accompanied him on his journey to Nebraska, regardless of whether they chose to stay or could not leave the premises. Instead of prayer, Jim thinks: C'est la vie; go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph in chapter I of "My Ántonia" describes Jim's discomfort while venturing out into the great plains of Nebraska. Jim has left behind everything familiar to him-his native state of Virginia, his friends, and the Appalachian Mountains. Recently an orphan, Jim is forced to leave his home in Virginia and live with his grandparents in Nebraska. While traveling by train and wagon to his grandparents' farm, Jim realizes that everything he had previously lived for no longer exists. In the midst of an existential crisis, Jim is able to let go of his pervious identity and begin anew. He disregards establishing direction and focus in his life and is just able to live.
ReplyDelete- Catherine Marris
The first chapter of “My Antonia” sets the intellectual and emotional stage for the novel by establishing the completely new future that Jim Burden faces. As exemplified by the feeling of nothingness and of non-existence that Jim gets when looking at the sky in Nebraska, Jim has left everything behind. He is, in a sense, an immigrant, facing a fresh new start. This presumably allows Jim to make emotional connections with another “immigrant” to the town where his grandparents live, Antonia. Although Antonia is from a completely different culture, the isolation and ruralness of the landscape that the two of them both face might possibly have an intellectual effect as well, as the descriptions in the novel give a sense of reflection. With the introduction of a new time and a new place, Hather allows herself substantial room to maneuver her characters in; she has no obligation to the past, only the future of her characters (though interestingly, the whole novel is a recollection of the past.)
ReplyDelete- Catherine Marris
The last paragraph characterizes the American wilderness and offers a metaphor into Jim's situation. The narrator gives his account of how dark the night-time is, how empty. He is travelling to a place he has never been, and it is striking to him how vast the space is, not yet taken up and made into countries. This is similar to Jim's own situation. Forced to strike out on his own, his life becomes a blank slate as he heads out west, and, like the surrounding countryside, watches things form out of the darkness that do not yet exist.
ReplyDeleteSlightly mysterious; convincing, yet on second glance, not quite right; detached; - all can describe both the last paragraph of the first chapter of The Shimerdas and, in my opinion, Jim's impression of Antonia. From the rest of chapter I, the reader gets a sort of impression that Jim (or at least Jake) has been brought up in a way in which he thinks foreigners are "other". To a young ten-year-old boy who has not yet gotten over the shock of being orphaned (we can tell it hasn't really hit him yet by the detached tone he uses while discussing them), being near a foreign girl nearly his age could very well seem like a dream, something imagined, something like what he thinks of Nebraska. His description of the state in the last paragraph gives off the feeling of something half formed, almost like a precursor to an idea. One of my favorite sentences from this paragraph, "There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made," made me think of Native American creation myths, almost as if this was a vestige of what existed before the world was born. This sentence didn't seem strange to me until I reread it and thought about its meaning, which brought a paraphrased Inception quote to mind: in a dream, nothing seems strange until you wake up. This imbued this paragraph with a dreamlike quality for me. I think these same sort of feelings and impressions will also be associated with Antonia - strange in a way you can't exactly put your finger on, folksy (she's coming from Bohemia), mystical, and not fully understood.
ReplyDelete-Layla
As Catherine said, Cather begins her story very much at the beginning of a new story for her own characters, in a setting that leaves them unhindered by the material aspects of their pasts, from familiar places and objects to communities and parents. The significant lack of familiarity in the landscape in addition to physically leaving behind his previous life is presumably what leads Jim to say that "I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had got over the edge of it, and were outside man's jurisdiction", along with the impressive emptiness of the region. This last paragraph certainly embodies the widespread american sentiment of the final frontier: the west. As Cather published her book in 1918, the West was dwindling, and in 1920 the US census declared america completely settled, so in a way this sense of loss that many americans felt is mirrored by the losses Jim has suffered, which took away the things that defined him (many contemporary and current historians have stated that the US was truly defined by its frontier, socially, politically, and economically, much as one is by one's family). The West was always seen as a place to start fresh, and for Jim it is most certainly that (although not by choice), and for him it is everything and nothing, completely unmarked territory, both literally and metaphorically. This last paragraph sets up the story as one of loss and not just moving on, but actually leaving it behind in the past.
ReplyDeleteIn the last paragraph of the chapter, Jim is expressing his feelings toward his old enviornment, with nothing but land and also his old surroundings. He feels lonely and erased from the earth just because he is going into a new kind of territory and enviornment. This shows how Antonia is feeling also and it sets the this story on how Antonia is going to adjust to her new life seperating herself from old traditions and rituals.
ReplyDelete-Harry Bai
The last paragraph of the chapter makes it seem as though the narrator is very surprised by the landscape and the area of Nebraska, and how it is so much different from back in Virginia. He describes Nebraska as this very plain and boring place with nothing, but the foundation and materials out of which a country could be made. He was not used to land like this so wide open and flat with only a few small hills every once in awhile. The narrator is going to have to get used to this new environment that he will be living in and this will have a big effect on his lifestyle and because of that, the events in the book. Another thing that he may have to get used to is his parents not being in heaven above him, because he says that there is a new heaven in Nebraska, one different from back in Virginia. Because of this, he may have to let go of the past to embrace the future.
ReplyDelete-CQ
The last paragraph of the first chapter serves as a new beginning of sorts for the characters. It puts them in a setting in which they, as well as the reader, are completely new. This allows the reader along with the character to go through a similar emotional journey. Along with starting with a so-called "blank slate"she surprisingly for the time casts off g-d. She does not go as far as to say g-d does not exist, but the main character speaks of the very untamed, and resilient nature of the land itself, in which g-d has a smaller place. Also of note is her description of the land as more than just land. Treating it almost as if it is an autonomous force which acts of its own accord.
ReplyDeleteAs Catherine said, the last paragraph of the chapter has Jim experiencing what it feels like to be detached from his surroundings and going through nearly the same thing as the immigrant family also on their way to Black Hawk. By being in a place so far away from what was recognized as home by Jim, he left all things familiar and "...even [his deceased parents'] spirits behind..." This loss of familiar surroundings is reinforced by the fact that Jim sees "nothing but land" and so in this new place, there is not so much as "nothing" as there is a lack of something. This sets the tone that Jim is not yet buoyed to this place, but throughout the novel he will eventually form ties to the land and people around him, and instead of believing that "what would be would be," and that he has no control over his life, he will grow emotionally. This sets the tone that growth and change within Jim are the things that the reader will notice throughout. - Olga
ReplyDeleteLast paragraph, it makes them feel like they are at the end of the world, or at least the end of human influence of the world. Everything from Jim's life is left behind and a new one has begun. Now that is done, LOLOLOL WELCOME TO THE INTERWEBS!!!1111!!!
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of the first chapter is enlightening in a way. I relate it to Walden Pond in the sense that it is blank openness available for a new start. Because Jim feels that his new life here is nothing; no country, away from his parents, no familiar cultural surroundings, he has the ability to make anything happen for himself. I think this last paragraph is more of an individual experience awaiting Jim. Jim says that he won't be praying that night and that pulls himself away from spiritual and into a more isolated atmosphere for his own self improvement.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the last paragraph of chapter one is not only a metaphor for Jim's new life in the west but also one for his emotional state and Future. Not Only has Jim been removed from his home in Virginia but his parents have passed away. This should be a traumatic event leaving a empty void in Jim's life. It is strange that he acts to simply. He seems like a statue or a blank slate. This is similar to the landscape that he describes. His life is now empty also, losing everything it seems dark and hopeless. He does not know what to do, he cannot see what path to take. He describes not being able to see the road ahead in the all consuming darkness of the night. But his future might be bright like the stars. He does say that there is nothing there but land. This is cheesy I know but that land can be cultivated there are no obstacles just endless opportunities as far as the eyes can see.
ReplyDeleteNigel
In the part of the paragraph where it says that he did not think that his mother and father would be looking for him in Nebraska I take that he thinks that he doesn’t belong in Nebraska. This comes to no surprise considering the huge difference between Virginia and Nebraska described. Why then if he seemingly says he does not belong would he say that he isn’t homesick? On the exterior it would seem that he’s acting like a tough guy and he doesn’t care that he doesn’t belong in Nebraska. Other parts of the paragraph show that too. He says at the end that “what would be would be” displaying an ambivalent attitude to hardships that could fall on him. He also says it does not matter if he “arrives nowhere”. All he really does claim to feel is “blotted out” and “erased”. To me, this seems like that the big iceberg of this paragraph is that Jim, while outwardly just indifferent is actually pretty terrified and nervous of what is to become of him in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of the first chapter or My Antonia is a blank portrait from which the reader can infer what will happen next. Jim's mind is dramatic and wild which creates a sense of foreboding. Like the Nebraska plain the last paragraph of the chapter is a barren and blank landscape void of anything substantial. There is no country in this last chapter just land.
ReplyDelete--Nathan
Jim Burden is apparently overwhelmed by this new experience. The land, to him, was this mystical place that was illuminated by the faint "starlight." He used the word "undulating," which means to have this wavelike motion, and thus this trip seems to have a dreamlike quality for him. He is feeling lost, because he is leaving behind his home and his life. (Ever get the heart-wrenching feeling when you move your home?) He doesn't see any familiar ridges, which, for us, equates to not seeing any familiar faces. As Layla mentioned, he is in shock from the death of his parents as can be seen from his monotonous, detached, and robotic tone. In the last sentence, "what would be would be" shows that he has given up on thinking of plans; he is just going to wing it and not plan ahead. After all, he is still in shock. His mind hasn't wrapped itself around the gravity of the situation. It sets the tone because we know that, in time, he would have to face reality, and snap out of his reverie.
ReplyDelete---TSI YU
Willa Cather is really trying set the scene for the book right off the bat. She gives us this on-going description of the new scene saying “nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, or hills or fields” and repeats this time stereotypical view of a landscape that you would expect in these rural states such as Nebraska. I don’t think it is a really risky chapter ending paragraph but it is written in a way in which its colors are more vivid than its surrounding context. There is definitely a point trying to be made, one that really sets the tone off and I think it would be safe to say that the rest of the book would take place in these rural parts. The paragraph seems to reach out to nature and rural life and I think this is a huge theme that would be focused on throughout the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Chan wrote this!!!
Cody Tipton
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of chapter one sets the emotional and intellectual stage for the rest of the book. Jimmy does this by his distinict point of view and tone on the surroundings. He gives the reader the impression that there is "nothing" in the surroundings. However, he says "nothing but land," this means that there is something. Jimmy goes on to say that their are no fields etc. but there is land. It is clear that Jimmy is taking on some thoughts that are deeper than they appear at the surface. It is possible that Jimmy feels like he is leaving his home and that he is overwhelmed with virtually starting over. - Cody Tipton
In the last paragraph of Chapter 1, Jim watches the scenery pass by as he journeys to the west. Not used to the landscape, he feels alone and disconnected from his family and home. At this point he feels like there is no destination. Wherever he ends up, it will not be his home. His parents won’t be there, and neither will his family. He figures nothing could be worse so he gives up all hope and leaves everything behind. He chooses not to pray perhaps because he believes there is no hope to bring back anything from his old life and he must start anew.
ReplyDelete--Hannah Breck
I agree with Tsi Yu when he said that Jim is extremely overwhelmed by his arrival in Nebraska. He has left any thing, place, and almost every person he is familiar with, and is simply a scared little kid. He doesn't really have anything to look forward to in this new place, where he is still recovering from his parents' deaths and where he won't have any friends. Jim feels lonely and abandoned, and very small in this big new world he is entering. He says that, "between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out." I think Jim is afraid of being forgotten and neglected because the assurance of his parent's love and care is gone. Without this assurance, as he expresses in the final sentence, anything, good or bad, could happen, and not even prayer can help him.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Madoff
The last paragraph of chapter 1 of 'My Ántonia' sets the emotional stage of the book as very bleak and pessimistic. Everything about the paragraph strikes me as very negative. In the first part Jim talks about how uncomfortable his bed is, how much he aches, how he bites his tongue and how he can't sleep. All of this sets Jim's emotional state as very unhappy and annoyed. As the paragraph progresses Jim's emotional state becomes very bleak, and it seems as though he feels alone. Jim speaks about how he has left the world behind, left man's jurisdiction, and about how even his dead parents can not see him where he is. Jim also uses words such as hollow, nothing and faint, which match how hollow he feels in this new empty place. Overall, I see this paragraph as contrasting Jim's somewhat carefree attitude earlier in the book; Jim really does feel alone and unhappy in this new place.
ReplyDelete-Matt Goroff
I think this paragraph starting at "I had never before looked up at the sky..." to "But this was the complete dome of heaven" shows Jim's excitement for this new and different environment. The first part of the quote I referenced suggests that Jim really does not know anything different from what his life was in Virginia. This would explain his excitement for the new life that is about to unfold before him. I also think in that quote there is a sense of hopefulness. Jim seems quite optimistic about his new life. He believes that his new home in Nebraska is the "dome of heaven". He is even so sure about that that he does not feel the need to say his prayers. I am however a little confused as to why Jim is so ready to accept that his parents are not spiritually "in" Nebraska. It seems to me that a young kid would not let go of his diseased parents so quickly and unemotionally. And it seems that if Jim indeed does believe that Nebraska is the “dome of heaven” why doesn’t he think his parents will be there?
ReplyDelete-Amina Johari
In the last Paragraph of chapter one in "My Antonia" I think Jim feels lost. He doesnt feel like there is anything better in the world waiting for him so everything comes across as empty. He my feel that because his parents arent around anymore that there is no one steering him in the right direction to succeed in the world. The country didnt seem like anything to him because it wasnt what he was used to back at home. I think it was reflecting what he felt in comparison to what he was actually seeing. Jim may be to overwhelmed by what is happening after his parents had died and he is not ready to let go and turn the page to the next chapter.
ReplyDelete-Erin Bridge
When I read the last paragraph of Chapter 1, I thought at first that Jim was sad to be leaving his home, Virginia. But as I read on, he did not expressly object to being driven away. In fact, it seemed to me that he was rather interested in finding something to look at. He said there was no fascinating landscape, just land that countries are made of. He was curious but disappointed. He wasn't eager to go anywhere, but he didn't seem to not want to go. Jim appeared to feel blank and empty- nothing compelling was happening and there was nothing interesting to look at.
ReplyDeleteThis leads me to think that instead of Jim being upset at leaving his home, he is curious like an explorer, looking to find something new. But he is also disappointed and discouraged when there is nothing; he seems to lose hope.
The final paragraph of the first chapter largely describes Jim's realizations while on his way out west. Early on in the story, the scene seems to be a great turning point in Jim's life, a character whom the reader just met. The reader is not acquainted with Jim's past life in Virgina, and yet Jim realizes that all that was once his life is being wiped away and describes it to the reader. What causes this deep realization, sudden for the reader, is what Jim sees around him. What is familiar for Jim to see has disappeared, replaced with the wide and daunting spaces of the west, along with the rest of the life he has left behind.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph of Chapter 1 of "My Antonia" portrays a sad, weak, and lost Jim. Not only is he in a new location where "there was not a familiar mountain ridge," but he is is a new stage of his life where he is lost and confused. He has no parents, doesn't know anyone, and finds himself on a journey quite similar to the immigrant family headed the same direction as him. This paragraph sets Jim up as a lost soul, and I suspect that he will find it, and find a reason to care and pray again as the book goes on.
ReplyDelete-Sydney Karnovsky
The last paragraph of the first chapter shows Jim's wonder and awe at his surroundings, and serves to portray how dwarfed and completely alone he feels in what is now to be his home. I think that this is showing how Jim will feel during the rest of the novel; alone but in awe of nature, and, displayed by his not wanting to pray, accepting of fate and whatever happens to him.
ReplyDelete-Jesse Small
Just as the vast lands of the far West were greatly romanticized for the idea of endless possibilities, just a few decades before this book was published, perhaps this final paragraph and Jim's description of the land represents the great possibilities of events to occur in this story. However, whether these possible events will be positive or negative is unknown, as emphasized by the confusion of the final paragraph. Though Jim refers to the land as "the dome of heaven," he also mentions feeling "erased" and perhaps lonely or nostalgic. Either way, Jim writes that "the wagon jolted on," carrying him somewhere he "knew not whither," just as this story may take us, the readers, deep into the text, wherever that may end up.
ReplyDelete-Elena Ridker
In the last paragraph of Chapter 1, Jim shows the reader that he is lost in this new environment. Throughout the paragraph, his tone remains hollow and without any hope. However, he claims that he could not see clearly because all he had to help him to see was the faint starlight. This shows that the reason that he is lost is only because his eyes have not adjusted to this new light. Slowly, as his eyes become used to only having the faint starlight, he will realize that this new home is not bland and he will no longer be lost.
ReplyDelete-Harry Ruther
In this paragraph it seems that Jim sees himself as leaving his old world behind and entering a world that is made up of nothing. The world that Jim had grown up with was full of life and spirit and recently in his life the land represented the last presence of his parents. But now that he has left his old home, in a way he is cutting a the last bond he has with his parents which is probably why he feels that this new land is so empty. He feels homesick because he misses his home, but he also feels homesick because he's channeling the grief of losing his parents because he just lost the last bond to his parents that he had.
ReplyDeleteFor me the passage seems to be showing how different parts of America are and because of how different the Nebraskan landscape is from Virginia Jim feels that he is in another realm. Therefore things that had been true in Virginia, like the existence of God and his parents looking down on him from heaven, no longer have any meaning in this "new world."
ReplyDelete-Benny