Next week you will write a paper about My Antonia. What are you going to write about? What questions interest you? Many of you were interested in the relationship between Cather's life and her novel; I could imagine lots of interesting paper possibilities that tried to tease out the anxieties in the book's complex depictions of gender, sexuality, culture (rural vs. urban; American vs. European; natural vs. sophisticated; etc.), memory, or the past.
So let me ask the question that way: what are some of the contradictions you see? What are some of the complexities you see? Is Jim Burden a reliable narrator? Where does the book stand? Where did Cather stand? What might you write about? Have at it!
One of the interesting ideas/contradictions that I see in the novel is the idea of greatness and then the pursuit of greatness itself; Antonia has high hopes for Jim becoming a doctor, and she always seems to believe that he will make great things out of his life. Yet, when he returns to see her, he is divorced with no children, and does not seem to have any great fulfillment from his professional life. Similarly, Jim has high hopes for Antonia; she has the farming ability to become extremely successful in the nearby country, and has great dancing ability, shown off to great success in town. Yet, she becomes pregnant and bears an illegitimate child, eventually marrying and becoming a poor farmer's wife. Conversely, Lena, whom everyone believed was destined for ruin due to her attraction to scandal at an early age, is enormously successfully in her professional life; personally, Cather is less clear. The not-so-perfect endings for the main characters of this novel is much more realistic in comparison to real life, or perhaps Cather is refuting the old-town sensibility of Black Hawk which deems that good boys like Jim will be successful and bad girls like Lena will not. On the other hand, perhaps Cather is confirming this old-town sensibility; Antonia drifts away from responsible people, such as the Harlings, resulting in her ruin, whereas Jim is checked just in time by his mentor and prevented from staying with Lena. One of the many contradictions of the novel is whether Cather is supporting old-town morality and sensibilities, or arguing against them.
ReplyDelete- Catherine
While finishing the book Jim and Antonia reunite. Understandably Antonia fails to recognize Jim (20 years since the two had last seen each other). But as the two talk and continue to reestablish their former relationship, they get back to their normal ways
ReplyDeleteSomething interesting might be the contrast in this book between proper and improper. Jim doesn't voice his agreement to the widespread calls that Lena, for instance, is morally bad, but he does seem relatively surprised when she becomes successful. Antonia, when she grew older, no longer went over to her neighbors' houses to help with the harvest, the book saying something like she was 'too modest', even though it didn't take issue with her habit before. I want to know not only where Jim draws the line between proper and improper, but also how the line changes as he grows older and tastes professionalism and city life.
ReplyDeleteThe "circle" of life that Jim concludes with is another curious theme. Jim admits that he was reluctant to return to Nebraska to see Antonia because he was afraid to see anything he didn't want to see in Antonia but eventually does. I don't really understand the nostalgic ending - is Cather advocating for a return to farms, away from the scrutinizing and often harmful social pressure? Because Lena, who everyone thought was going to end up sleazy and unsuccessful, was in charge of a booming dress company. Like Catherine said, Antonia - the "good" one - became a single mother, shameful to return home. On the flip side, Antonia has a large, loving family. Lena does not, and neither does Jim, who is now a lawyer living in New York. Perhaps Cather is advocating for cherishing family life and childhood, when scandals - sexual or not - did not capture the scrutinous eye of society.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably write about Cather's relationship to Antonia from a feninist standpoint. There are plenty of clear examples of antonia being depicted as a more masculin girl than Lena. That being said, I find it fascinating that Cather still decides to embregnate her and have her deal with typical "woman" problems.
ReplyDeleteWilla Cather's depiction of gender roles throughout the novel add immense depth to her characters. Ever since the beginning of the novel, Ántonia's independent nature has enabled her to maintain dominance in her relationship with Jim. Jim is once again plays the role of the subordinate character in his relationship wit Lena. Perhaps through character development, Cather attacks and challenges typical gender roles in American society. In addition, Cather's character development may reveal and connect with various aspects of her life growing up in Nebraska.
ReplyDeleteThe question of whether Jim is a reliable narrator or not is really interesting to me. He has an extremely obvious bias towards Antonia, and told through his point of view, we get a very positive image of her. If the story had been told by an unbiased, mysterious narrator such as the one from the beginning of the book, or by another character, the whole story would have had a very different tone. I wonder if everyone was as fascinated by Antonia as Jim was, and whether everyone put such a positive spin on her character.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how Jim was proud and happy that Lena's dress company was booming. He thought that she, as opposed to Antonia, was going places and doing well. Then years later, he comes back, and sees that Antonia has been deserted by her then-husband. In another 20-ish years, she has another husband and 4 more kids. Maybe she isn't as unsuccessful as Jim thought/predicted? Sure,she was in a bad state when her husband ditched her, but look at her now! Maybe having a big family is more the definition of success!
ReplyDeleteI am interested by the mixture of the past and present in Jim's narration, especially towards the end when he is visiting Antonia. Also, it might be interesting to compare Jim's past views on certain people and what they turned out to be in the future.
ReplyDeleteI think Nina has an interesting idea for a paper. I would like to narrow it down and write a paper comparing Jim's first description of the land to his last one. I think these two passages will reveal Jim's growth, as well showing some of his un-changed characteristics. Henry
ReplyDeleteI think that it would be interesting to write about how reliable Jim is as a narrator. Because he is the one talking about his experiences, especially those involved with Antonia and other characters, we really only get his opinion on them. He uses his male voice to describe what is mostly a novel concerning a girl and her experiences in relation to him. This can be compared to Cather and how she broke into writing, a field dominated mostly by men and their standards of good literature. The judgments Jim made about others aren't necessarily the correct way of viewing people, but because he is the narrator, we use his opinions to establish our own. - Olga
ReplyDeleteSince this book is "the most romantic book ever", I am probably going to write about love and its hypothetical potential in both its presence and its absence. I'm not alone when I say that I thought Jim and Antonia were going to fall in love, and Cather sets up the book in a way that makes the reader feel that they are destined to fall in love. So, now that the book is over and that never happened, I'm thinking about her intentions. Antonia and Jim had high hopes for each other but neither of them fulfilled what the other expected. The reason for this (thesis statement) is that they were always missing each others love, and if they had loved each other, their lives would have turned out better because love is a driving force of momentum that can cause a man or woman to endure and surpass the challenges that life presents. Ultimately, Jim and Antonia were meant to fall in love and Cather didn't have that happen to show the significance of love. It could have gone either way, they could have fallen in love or they couldn't have, and Cather chose for them to not fall in love and I am starting to understand why and how that decision reflects the novel as a whole.
ReplyDeletebryan fehrnstrom ^^^^^
ReplyDeleteI saw Antonia and Jim to both be successful, but in different ways. Antonia has a loving family, but she does not bring in the cash the way she was expected to. She was very independent as she worked with drive and found her own work, but now she has a family and has lost this independence. However, she is still successful for having such a nice loving family, a field in which Jim has failed in miserably. Having been through a divorce and having no children, Jim has not been successful in his love life. However, he has finished school at Harvard and is a lawyer. This shows that Jim and Antonia complete each other if joined just as they were at the end of the novel thus making a very full, complete ending.
ReplyDeleteJim expected to see something completely different in Antonia and Antnoia also expected to see something different in Jim but both of them were surprised by the results. Their expectations of each other is just like the reader's expectation of Jim and Antonia to fall in love but at the end they never do. Expectations are the ideal situations but it doesn't necssairliy have to happen or go that way. I think Cather lead the readers into believing Jim and Antonia will fall in love compared to the expectations of Jim and Antonia of each other is an intresting topic for the paper.
ReplyDelete-Harry Bai
I think that Jim may regret his choice of going to school and the resulting effects that it had. He left his home and after he comes back 20 years later, so much has changed that he can barely remember it. I think he wanted to stay back on the farm with Antonia and live his life there.
ReplyDeleteCQ Alonzo
I think the character Cuzak is very interesting. Cuzak is shown as an opposite to Jim in many ways. He is vocal about how he feels, he is the father of a large family, and he lives on a farm. But rather than being stark opposites, Cuzak and Jim seem to be antiparallel. Cuzak began in the city and slowly made his way to the Nebraska countryside, where as Jim began in the countryside and worked his way to the big city. Both are nostalgic for their opposite pasts, living where the other came from. This antiparallel relationship is telling of Jim, as Cuzak is more vocal about the way he feels. Cuzak's revelation at the end, where he realizes that he has been gone from the city for 26 years, told me that Jim is feeling a similar way. Jim can't believe that is has been so long since he was living in the Nebraska countryside. I think this relationship between JIm and Cuzak goes much farther, and it would be an interesting topic for a paper.
ReplyDelete-Matt
It is interesting how little we learn about Jim's career, rather his focus is solely on his interactions with Antonia, or lack thereof. Cather therefore seems to see Jim less as a character, but rather eyes with which the reader may see Antonia.
ReplyDelete-Benny
I loved the ending of this book. Upon reflection, I realized that the parts I liked the best were the ones very connected to nature, Bohemian-American cultural synthesis (or lack thereof),or both. Thus, two ideas for my paper are: 1) discussing Cather's use of symbolism in nature and the role of nature in the book, or 2) The extent of assimilation of the Bohemians/other cultures in the book and any effect Cather's own life might have had on it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite parts of the book were the parts that occurred out in the country of Nebraska and that involved nature. Jim, despite living in the city for multiple years, still finds himself back in Nebraska. Throughout the novel the characters form a deep relationship with the landscape through which they portray their emotions. I would like to write about the Nebraska landscape and how it is a symbol of Jim's life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Olga, and think that it would be very interesting to write about Jim as the narrator. I might not write about how reliable he is as much as how realistic it is. He seems to be a man telling a women's story (Cather's) and so I think that this would lead to an interesting paper.
ReplyDelete-Sydney
The book glorifies the past, and the great memories it brings, I do agree Sabina about the"circle of life" moral that appears. Antonia herself is timeless for Jim, a passage for him to visit his childhood when everything else is changing around him. she is just the same Antonia as Jim has always knew her.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the book was definately in the first section of the book when Jim/Antonia was in the country as farmers
ReplyDeleteThis is also considered "the past" in comparison to the rest of the time zones in the book. Maybe this is related to the way the book tries to emphasize the past and how important/great it is
Andrew C
I think that writing about culture would be interesting. Specifically, rural vs. urban settings. -Cody Tipton
ReplyDeletei think comparing and contrasting the past vs. the future would be interesting (with Jim and Antonia)
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