In the novel My Antonia the author, Willa Cather, creates an atmosphere that keeps her readers engaged by adding dramatic scenes. In these dramatic scenes she divides the ideas and actions of men and women when it comes to expressing their feelings. As the novel began the characters did not express their emotions in the way people often do but when they did men and women approached them very differently.
Expressing emotions in the novel was very different for both genders. Men had their ways and women had their ways also. In the novel men didn’t express how hurt or how much pain they were experiencing. They would often stay quiet and commit suicide when you would least expect it. For an example in chapter XIV ( ) Mr. Shimerda was found dead with a dent in his head. Now Mr. Shimerda’s death was a surprise to all the people in the town because he seemed perfectly fine. Because people didn’t understand how he died they considered it as a suicide. Women on the other head were different; they often showed their emotions by breaking down and crying. For an example in chapter X Ms. Shimerda broke down when Jake brought over a gift basket full of food. Ms. Shimerda explained that they were not beggars in Bohemia, but because they went through a few obstacles on their way to America it left them with very little money. From these two examples you can see that women and men had two totally different approaches to expressing their feelings.
Mr. Colburn responds:
Yes: men and women are shown really differently. Mr. Shimerda kills himself, Jim's grandfather is "taciturn", Jim doesn't tell Antonia how he feels, but the women are quite expressive--Antonia chatters away, her mother is constantly making nasty comments, and Jim's grandmother tells Jim all about this and that.
This brings up, for me, a question about the relationship between the narrator and the author. Willa Cather is female, but she is writing from a male point of view. Insofar as women talk more, it makes sense that the author is female, since a real Jim Burden might not be so likely to put down his memories into a two-hundred-page book; insofar as men are taciturn, it makes sense that the narrator is male, since Jim is pretty reticent and understated.
It also reminds me that Willa Cather, in her first few years of college, used to like to wear men's clothes and go by the name of William... How does that fit with the whole male/female split in the novel? Thoughts?
Expressing emotions in the novel was very different for both genders. Men had their ways and women had their ways also. In the novel men didn’t express how hurt or how much pain they were experiencing. They would often stay quiet and commit suicide when you would least expect it. For an example in chapter XIV ( ) Mr. Shimerda was found dead with a dent in his head. Now Mr. Shimerda’s death was a surprise to all the people in the town because he seemed perfectly fine. Because people didn’t understand how he died they considered it as a suicide. Women on the other head were different; they often showed their emotions by breaking down and crying. For an example in chapter X Ms. Shimerda broke down when Jake brought over a gift basket full of food. Ms. Shimerda explained that they were not beggars in Bohemia, but because they went through a few obstacles on their way to America it left them with very little money. From these two examples you can see that women and men had two totally different approaches to expressing their feelings.
Mr. Colburn responds:
Yes: men and women are shown really differently. Mr. Shimerda kills himself, Jim's grandfather is "taciturn", Jim doesn't tell Antonia how he feels, but the women are quite expressive--Antonia chatters away, her mother is constantly making nasty comments, and Jim's grandmother tells Jim all about this and that.
This brings up, for me, a question about the relationship between the narrator and the author. Willa Cather is female, but she is writing from a male point of view. Insofar as women talk more, it makes sense that the author is female, since a real Jim Burden might not be so likely to put down his memories into a two-hundred-page book; insofar as men are taciturn, it makes sense that the narrator is male, since Jim is pretty reticent and understated.
It also reminds me that Willa Cather, in her first few years of college, used to like to wear men's clothes and go by the name of William... How does that fit with the whole male/female split in the novel? Thoughts?
Well, being called William and wearing men’s clothes that are very interesting. A thought of mine is that perhaps since she was trying to be a man, which helped her make her male characters? Granted, it wouldn’t give Willa an accurate idea of what a man thinks… Though, I suppose if a girl wanting to be a boy asked me how I think, I guess I would answer truthfully. I do agree that she makes both genders express themselves differently.
ReplyDeleteI would say there is one exception to Willa’s portrayal of men being closed in. That man being d’Arnault, not only does he constantly pour his soul out while he plays, but also as a child snuck into the piano room, played, then had a sudden spazz attack so hard that he started bleeding. I think Cather did this on purpose, making the black man the most expressive man so far in the book. Maybe to bring some racist undertone she has used so far when explaining d’Arnault. However, I haven’t been able to find a woman who isn’t closed in like a man in the book.
To be honest I don’t know where I am going with this response, I think that perhaps Willa acting like a boy did give her insight on how to write to Jim’s point of view, but I am wondering why she did it in the first place. Other than the previous statement, I do not think Willa cross-dressing for a bit in college fits into the novel very much, who knows, I could just be over looking a VERY obvious point.
Yes, I agree that men and women express themselves very differently from each other. Willa Cather showed this to the reader very early on in the book. For example, when Jims parents died, Jim seemed to have little to no reaction. However, in chapter II, Jims Grandmother was crying simply at the sight of Jim as he slept because he slightly resembled his father. This difference between the two genders could become important later on in the novel as, perhaps, Jim does not ever express his feelings for Antonia, or Antonia will become too expressive and push Jim away. Willa Cather may have used this gender difference to help guide us into the later chapters, but whether or not these are her true intentions, we will just have to find out by continuing into the novel.
ReplyDeleteThis difference in gender expression was also apparent in T. S. Eliots The Indian Camp, as the woman was screaming in pain as she gave birth. However, the male took the cowards way out and killed himself due to his pain of hearing his wife suffer.
-Harry Ruther
NB: It was Hemingway who wrote "Indian Camp."
ReplyDeleteAs for how it matters that Willa Cather cross-dressed in college: well, she is in some ways cross-dressing again here, in the novel...