Dan writes:
In the novel My Ántonia, Willa Cather introduces two main characters, Jim Burden and Ántonia Shimerda. Cather makes some interesting decisions in how she portrays their relationship. The first is how she decides to begin the novel. The book is prefaced by a peculiar and mysterious introduction from the point of view of a third person anonymous narrator. This introduction gives us a glimpse at the final product of the relationship, but still leaves many questions unanswered. The introduction gives us clues, for instance we know Jim becomes a successful legal counsel in New York with a not so great marriage. The only clues we get about Antonia is that Jim felt affectionately towards her, and that he has or had some bond with her to spur him to title his notes “My Ántonia.” With the introduction in mind we can see the beginnings of this, yet there are still big holes to be filled. One hint at this ending we already see in Part 1 is Jim and Ántonia separating because Jim is pursuing his schooling while Ántonia reluctantly is forced into the simple farming life. Perhaps this leads to their eventual divide and Jim’s departure to the big city as a successful man of law. However this explanation does not account for one thing. Their relationship seems to span an entire childhood, but in reality lasts less than a year before they start to grow apart. Reasonably speaking Jim’s affection for Ántonia cannot be explained simply by these few months, As we read into part two we should expect some sort of twist to bring them back together. Some explanation for why Jim remembers her so fondly, some explanation for why he would compile all these notes on their time together.
Mr. Colburn responds:
I can't exactly argue with anything Dan says--it is certainly weird that Antonia is so important to Jim, and he to her, after only one summer, and we should probably expect more interaction from them in the future--but we should also keep in mind that this is art, a heightening of life, and that in neither life nor art do things happen "reasonably." "Reasonably speaking," Mr. Shimerda wouldn't have killed himself. "Reasonably speaking," wolves don't gather in packs and chase down sleighs. And no reasonable person would be moved by a fictional story--but we often are...
Dan made a really good point about the singular literary choices Cather made when writing this novel, such as the unique narrative frame set up by the introduction, the slow release of information to the reader, and specific plot events. Although at first glance, these might seem to serve no purpose but to add confusion, but, in my opinion, on later inspection, these choices add further meaning and depth to the story.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of the “accelerated childhood” Jim and Ántonia experience, I think this is keeping in style with the narrative point of view Cather has chosen, that of a man reflecting on his childhood. Thinking back to when I was in third or fourth grade, I can certainly understand how young Jim felt like a whole lifetime had passed in those short months. I think this peculiarity was less of a warped time effect than the perspective of a child.
As far as the growing divide between Ántonia and Jim, I don’t think it is as straightforward as Dan described. It seems to me that in the first few chapters of “The Hired Girls,” Ántonia and Jim are closer than they were at the end of “The Shimerdas.” I think there might be some romantic interest conflict judging from the way Ántonia interacts with Jim at the beginning of “The Hired Girls.”
Ántonia is obviously central to Jim’s life. Why else would he write a collection of memoirs (?) about her forty (or so) years later? To me, it seems like it is more than simply Jim’s affection for her or a bond between them that makes her so memorable to him. She seems like Jim’s description of his first impression of Nebraska – almost not real, a sort of behind-the-scenes beauty of character that no one fully understands, silent yet speaking volumes at the same time, and a love of the world and freedom. It is perhaps because his experience in Nebraska left such a lasting impression on him that he writes about Ántonia, the girl who to him seems to represent that no-man’s land. Perhaps, it is simply because he never fully understands her that he is obsessed with her.
I agree with Layla that the closeness of Jim and Antonia's relationship may be more of an effect of childhood than of Cather's manipulation. From my own experience, it was always much easier to make friends as a young child, and looking back, time seems to have passed almost more slowly when I was young than it does now. I also feel that there is something more to Antonia's power as a figure to Jim. From how much we have read of the book so far, it seems that, in addition to what Layla stated, Antonia is also a kind of unattainable thing for Jim. She sees him as childish (as can be seen in her addressing him as "Jimmy"), and that is only a small part of the divide between them. Gender, circumstances, upbringing, heritage, and opportunities, among other things, leave Jim separate from her. Antonia, from when Jim first meets her on the prairie, is a foreign, almost exotic thing, and, as Layla said, something he can never fully understand.
ReplyDelete~ Coco
Nice comments. I like the idea that Antonia is exotic. She is also, eventually, familiar, but by then she is in the past, and the past is always unattainable, always just out of reach.
ReplyDelete