My Antonia pgs. 127-185

Christine Flynn, Margo Tanner

Role of women throughout the novel

-The country girls are considered a "menace to the social order" in Black Hawk. (p.129)

-Frances Harling disapproves of Jim being attracted to the girls that he has hired, “The problem with you, Jim, is that you’re romantic.” Jim idealizes Antonia, and the other girls because he believes them to be glamorous and out of his reach.  He deems them as “hand-painted china that must not be used” and they are “[his] country girls.”

-What role do women play throughout the novel and what is Cather trying to convey about society through the characters she creates?

-What is Lena’s role in the novel compared to Antonia and Tiny?

“Our result of this family solidarity was that the foreign farmers in our country were the first to become prosperous.  After the fathers were out of debt, the daughters married the sons of neighbors, --usually of like nationality,-- and the girls who once worked in Black Hawk kitchens are to-day managing big farms and fine families of their own; their children are better off than the children of the town women they used to serve.” (157)

-The passage conveys two important ideas

1. Foreigners led good lives as immigrants
1. Is there actual truth to this statement? Why or why not?

2. Women were destined to work in homes and had little or no opportunity doing anything else
1. Do you agree with this notion that the women are better off after marrying?
2. Are the female characters empowered and given the tools and resources to pursue other paths than marriage?

Antonia and Larry’s Relationship

-Antonia dances Larry Donovan, and Antonia is surprised when he kisses her more aggressively than she expects. Antonia tells Jim that she hopes he does something more with his life than what his friends have done. Antonia is proud of his success at school.  She says,

-"Now, don't you go and be a fool like some of these town boys. You're not going to sit around here and whittle store-boxes and tell stories all your life. You are going away to school and make something of yourself. I'm just awful proud of you" (143).

-What influence does Antonia have on Larry and Jim?  How does her relationships with each of them differ?

Antonia’s Heritage, and going back to her roots gives her a sense of personhood

-Jim travels along the river banks and takes in the beauty of the country.  He notices Antonia crying and she tells him how she is saddened by the flowers that remind her her of her home in Bohemia.

-Jim comforts her by telling her that he saw her father’s spirit when they were alone in the house together one day in winter.

-Antonia says, "I ain't never forgot my own country." (Page 151)

-How does Antonia retain her heritage while she also tries to adjust to American life?

Conflict as a prominent theme

Which of the following sources of conflict is most prevalent in this set of readings?

-Person against self: Character struggles with his or her own actions and motives

-Person against person: the main character may have conflict with an antagonist

-Person against society: the main character struggles with over-arching organizations and constructs of society or a culture (or a system of beliefs held by society)

-Person against nature: the main character is threatened by a component of nature

Final thoughts

-The themes of the novel include friendship, immigration and prejudice, and loneliness.  Which one was most highlighted in this section of readings and why?

-How does the structure of the novel contribute to the themes and character development?

-How are we continually seeing Antonia grow and develop and what path is she headed down?