Antonia, the Main Character of the Novel

¶ … Antonia, the main character of the novel My Antonia.

My Antonia

The magnum opus, My Antonia is a well-composed masterpiece by the eminent author Willa Cather who is well-known for her scholarly depiction of life in the frontiers (Back cover). The distinguished novelist in her masterwork My Antonia has portrayed the strong personality as well as the persisting qualities of a young Bohemian girl named Antonia who migrated from United States to settle down in Nebraska.

This marvelous account addressing various issues has been narrated by one of the characters named Jim Burden who is portrayed as the childhood playmate of the protagonist of the novel named Antonia. According to Jim Burden, Antonia was the eldest daughter of the Shimerda's and a healthy as well as a happy girl with the most beautiful eyes that were "big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood" (Book 1, Chapter 3, pg. 17). The Shimerda's were the Burden's neighbors, as a result, Jim and Antonia came to know each other and eventually became childhood friends and they remained friends for the rest of their lives. According to Jim, Antonia radiated happiness and portrayed a healthy and a flourishing picture of the plains and the people of Nebraska even though the plains were like a piece of barren land. She always brought out and admired the hidden qualities of others around. She was a cheerful, sympathetic and a loving person who was not only concerned and cared for the inconsiderate members of her family but also showed sorrow for the dying insects.

By reading the novel, it is evident that My Antonia is a story of personal courage, the willingness to accept pains as well as the artistic potential of the protagonist of the novel. One of the examples is the willingness to sacrifice her dreams and to drop the idea of going to school after the death of her father. She gave up on her goals and accepted the bitter reality of life and learned to move on in order to keep her values intact and for the welfare of her family as well as the harmony of the land. She accepted the hard work in the fields and dealt with the hardships and became the embodiment of family bond, hard work, integrity and the love of plains. Antonia accepted her fate whole-heartedly and became "too proud of her own strength" (Book 1, Chapter 17, pg. 80). Even though working in the fields required great strength and energy and brought about the fact that Antonia could no longer fulfill the dream of being educated at school, she happily announced to her friend Jim that "I can work like mans now...I can work as much as Ambrosch. School is all right for little boys. I can help make this land one good farm" (Book 1, Chapter 17, pg. 81). Her love of the land and immeasurable optimism for the growth of the fields led to her ultimate success and the availability of stock for the Americans of Midwest.

Her honest character and loving personality caused immense pain to her for the one man she loved, left her unmarried and pregnant. Nonetheless this unhappy romantic relationship magnified her strength and augmented her insight. She over powered her disappointment and frustration and worked harder for the betterment and the welfare of her children. Even though she was disregarded by her own people and was thought to be disgraceful to her family, she learned to move on and lead a successful life. Antonia managed to find the true love in her other marriage and succeeded in becoming rich by investing her time and energy for the growth of her land. As a result, it is evident that Antonia symbolizes the virtues of hard work, love, sacrifice, optimism, generosity as well as pride in her accomplishments.

According to Antonia "Everybody's put into this world for something, and I know what I've got to do" (Book 4, Chapter 4, pg. 206). She knew her destination was to fulfill her American Dream that was to accomplish success in terms of wealth and to gain the support and respect of the community and to achieve satisfaction and happiness. Hence it is obvious that the character of Antonia is the symbol of American Dream. Moreover, from the comments by Jim, an old friend cited below we might infer that even after many years of struggling youth, Antonia was still considered an icon of what we call an American Dream. She had a breathtaking charm that enticed many around her as is obvious from the lines that follow: