Impressions of My Antonia :: My Antonia Essays

Impressions of My Antonia             My Antonia has been called nostalgic and elegiac in light of the fact that it praises the past.  The engraving on the cover sheet of My Antonia is a citation from Virgil: Optima bites the dust... prima fugit. This sentence, which means the greatest days are first to escape, consolidates all the components of the novel I might want to discuss.  It not just clarifies that Willa Cather will manage recollections of a heavenly past, yet in addition permits reasonable premise to show how nature can change and influence a relationship.  It moreover alludes to the Hellenic, to an enormous degree peaceful tone the novel will be set in.  A peaceful work retreats to a perfect rustic setting.  Jim Burden goes back to the grassland, yet more significantly, he withdraws to the guiltless days of his absolute first memories.  While this thinks about the core interest of the paper, I will utilize two characters, Jim and Antonia, to show these issues, and show why they make this book such a superb work of workmanship.           My Antonia is told from the perspective of Willa Cather's anecdotal companion, Jim Burden.  He writes in the main individual, and his utilization of the pronoun I causes you to feel his own involvement.  The purpose of see is quick and subjective.  Looking back on his recollections, he knows what is in the end going to happen to the characters.  He convinces you to identify with all of them.  His recognition, being wide and influential, establishes the pace for the entire book.  What is the motivation behind having the story told by Jim Burden thirty years later?  From that point of view he can present with incredible clearness and delicacy the features of his recollections. A man of the world, he is reinvestigating his values.  Jim Burden sets down everything the name of Antonia takes back to him.  Antonia speaks to him the most major, conventional approach to lead one's life, including the ideals of difficult work, good cause, love, positive thinking, pride, and compassion for nature.         The grassland makes one think about the powers of nature- - tremendous, repeating, and unpredictable.  When Jim Burden shows up on his grandparents' ranches, he is awed by seeing only land.  His folks are both