My Antonia, written by the renowned Willa Cather, is a classic of American literature considered to be a foundational text of the “prairie school” of midwestern literature. The novel centers around the story of protagonist Jim Burden, who recounts his memories of growing up in a small Nebraska town sharing his childhood with his friend, Antonia Shimerda.
At the opening of the novel, Jim has left his small Nebraska home and is reflecting back upon his childhood from his current home in Virginia. His story is broken into four book-length sections spanning nearly twenty years of his life paired with numerous flashbacks to his childhood and coming-of-age years. In the first section, Jim is growing up with his Grandmother and aunt on an isolated, hardscrabble farm. When he is nine, his grandfather remarries and a new family, Antonia’s, moves in next door. Jim and Antonia quickly become fast friends and explore their prairie home while finding solace in school, work, and games.
The second section of the novel opens with Jim, now a student at the University of Nebraska and Antonia, employed as a hired girl in a small farming town in the same area. While his Grandmother is aging and his aunt is set to marry, Jim is exploring his new role as a student and the newfound freedom. He visits Antonia occasionally, but she is now firmly rooted in the harsh realities of daily life on the prairie.
The third section moves twenty years after the events told in the first two sections and Jim, now an elderly lawyer, returns to his childhood home. During his time away from Nebraska, both he and Antonia have married, had children and experienced the hardships of rural living. When he visits, he subsequently learns about her bouts of sorrow and struggles, which have since grown since the times of his absence.
In the climactic fourth section, Jim delays his return home and finally reconnects with his childhood companion. Through the shared revelry and peace of the two friends, it is apparent they both have found solace in each other’s company and passage of time.
Throughout the novel, Willa Cather explores the changing atmosphere of nineteenth century life on the plains and the importance of community, hard work, and education. She blends in vivid slices of life, nature and nostalgia while thoughtfully addressing a variety of ethical and moral issues that Americans were facing during that time. Jim and Antonia’s lives as simple farms on the Southern plains post-Civil War, further illustrate the degrading effects of a newly-industrializing America. The novel not only serves as a poignant piece of American literature, it provides an captivating insight into the unique and authentic human experience of rural living.
My Antonia by Willa Cather is a classic story of faith, love, and the power of friendship against the backdrop of a nation changing rapidly. This timeless novel celebrated for its richly descriptive writing, captures the struggles and joys of life during a pivotal time in American history.
