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Antonia's role in the novel goes beyond that of encompassing the pure nature of childhood. It represents a clear window of strong powerful women. Better said, "This extremely influential character represents a positive compromise with feminist ideals. She is independent and strong while still living as a wife and mother" (Giglio, 2006). In this sense, Antonia is the embodiment of the successful woman, still not the average successful woman. This is largely due to the fact that the expression of her achievements is not always considered to be the common desire for women those days. Still, the symbolist part of this side of the character reflects in fact the social reality of that era and from Cather's point-of-view, it is a fair and clear recollection of her past.
Jim's complex character can be considered to be the image of the author as Jim's adventures and journeys are often similar if not identical to those of Cather's. However, the issue of journey and the mere fact that all the characters moved from one place to another represents an important point because it offers a view on the trials and experiences of the journey which is in fact the spirit of life. One of the reasons for which the entire frame of the novel took place in the train reveals just this fact that the physical journeys are a trying time, of recollection and reflection, when magical things could happen.
Another important aspect in the way in which "My Antonia" portrays its characters is related to the technique used to produce the novel, the recollection. More precisely, the process of recollection reflects Jim's obedience for...
Thus, "throughout this novel, Cather is interested not simply in what Jim remembers but also in how and why he does so. Her deliberate, intense focus on the most enigmatic details within the architecture of Jim's remembrances ultimately creates a certain imperative to look beyond Jim's memories of Antonia to more closely examine the memories that surround and intrude upon her" (Lucenti, 2000).
Finally, Antonia's presence in the novel represents a reminiscence of the author's own recollections on her past as the novel is dedicated to one of her closest friends from her childhood (Steinshouer, 2010). Therefore, the metaphoric link between the characters of Jim and Antonia may also be the recollection technique used by the author to construct this novel.
References
Cather, Willa. My Antonia.2008. Accessed from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/242/242-h/242-h.htm#2H_INTR
Giglio, Elizabeth. "Feminism in My Antonia." Agora Journal. 2006. Accessed from http://www.agorajournal.org/2006/Feminism%20in%20My%20Antonia.pdf
Holmes, Catherine D. "Jim Burden's Lost Worlds: Exile in My Antonia." Twentieth Century Literature, Fall, 1999. Accessed online from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0403/is_3_45/ai_58926040/
Lucenti, Lisa Marie. "Willa Cather's My Antonia: Haunting the Houses of Memory." Twentieth Century Literature, Summer, 2000. Accessed from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0403/is_2_46/ai_67315272/
Steinshouer, Betty Jean. My Antonia. Willa Cather's Long Journey. 2010. Accessed from http://classic-american-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/willa-cathers-long-journey
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