An Analysis of My Antonia by Willa Cather

My Ántonia, by Willa Cather, illustrates pioneer life narrated through the eyes of Jim Burden. Throughout the novel he continually places Ántonia, his dearest childhood companion, at the center of his prospective memory. A combination of Ántonia’s company with majestic descriptions of the Nebraska prairie forms the basis of Jim’s nostalgic recollection that comprises My Ántonia.

Just as history tends to repeat itself, certain patterns also emerge in Jim’s memory, events parallel to one another that define his experience and retrospective outlook.

An example includes the spectacle of the plow against the sun, paired with Jim’s observations of increased development of the Nebraska countryside as he returns to speak with the Widow Stevens. Both scenes illustrate interaction among man with nature. Ántonia herself is portrayed through parallel passages as a timeless being. Together, these parallelisms depict a balance between man and nature, with Ántonia as a living representation of man’s virtue.

Living on the prairie as a child, Cather saw the significance of nature.

For farmers in Nebraska, the land composed their livelihood. Cather illustrates the interaction between man and nature near the end of Book II when she describes “on some upland farm, a plough had been left standing in the field… it stood out against the sun, was exactly contained within the circle of the disk” (Cather 165).

Later in Book IV, as Jim travels to speak with the Widow Stevens, he observes the increased development of the countryside, stating that “all the human effort that had gone into [the land] was coming back in long, sweeping lines of fertility.

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The changes seemed beautiful and harmonious to me; it was like watching the growth of a great man or idea” (Cather 209). These passages display parallel descriptions of harmony as well as showing examples of man’s relationship with nature.

Jim uses the word “harmonious” in Book IV, while similarly the plough passage depicts a sort of cosmic alignment with the plough “exactly contained within the circle of the disk,” a natural harmony focused on a creation of man (the plough) paired with the Sun. Furthermore, both passages contain imagery of man interacting with the land by showing the plough, an instrument of farming, in the first passage, and by the increased development of the land in Book IV.

Together, these parallels express a balance and unity between man and nature. In Book IV, Cather explicitly links the two by comparing the land to the “growth of a great man or idea.” The alignment of the plow within the Sun expresses a balanced, unified coexistence. Curiously, Cather uses an uncomfortable tone when portraying Black Hawk in the winter, describing how “the houses seem to draw closer together” and how the roofs “are so much uglier” (Cather 110).

This helps her emphasize a necessary balance between man and nature. This balance in turn acts as a unifying force. Picturing the plough in the first passage blocking the Sun or, on the other hand, the plough not being placed within the Sun at all causes the image to lose its synchronized harmonious essence. Cather uses the parallel passages in Books II and IV to emphasize unity, a relationship between man and nature formed by harmonious balance.

Often, Jim’s character professes his adoration for his beloved Ántonia. As the Sun sets at the end of Book IV, Jim describes Ántonia’s face as “the closest, realest face, under all the shadows of women’s faces, at the very bottom of my memory” (Cather 219). Complimenting this passage, in Book V as he falls asleep he thinks how “she lent herself to immemorial human attitudes which we recognize by instinct as universal and true… she had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last.

All the strong things of her heart came out in her body, that had been so tireless in serving generous emotions” (Cather 240). In addition to their adoring portrayal of Ántonia, these passages lend a timeless aspect to her. Jim associates her with “immemorial” attitudes, and Ántonia’s image forever lives “at the very bottom” of Jim’s memory.

Jim describes several aspects of Ántonia as “immemorial” from the two passages. In the passage from Book V, he more literally describes her strength, determination, selflessness and generosity. However, the passage from Book IV hints at far more qualities when Jim describes her face as “under all the shadows of women’s faces.” As a timeless female figure, this also associates Ántonia with kindness, gentleness, compassion, and other nurturing characteristics stereotypical to women. Some would argue Ántonia’s portrayal of purely positive qualities because often men view women in a demeaning manner. However, Jim’s character himself scarcely speaks ill of Ántonia, and the image in the passage of him holding Ántonia’s hands to his heart doesn’t suggest condescension in his narration.

Cather compiles the descriptions from these parallel passages to form Ántonia into a living representation of human virtue. All the qualities Jim lists for her (generosity, strength, determination, perseverance, kindness, compassion, selflessness) present themselves in these two passages. Many people view morals as an innate part of man, existing far before written history. Similarly, Cather depicts Ántonia as a timeless being, her qualities “universal and true.” Through Jim’s perception of her, Ántonia exhibits few flaws, and any of these flaws he overlooks to focus on her other shining attributes. This leaves Ántonia expressed as a being of almost pure virtue, “universal” to man.

Willa Cather places parallel passages throughout her novel My Ántonia. Through descriptions of the plough against the Sun, paired with Jim’s observations of the developing countryside in Book IV, Cather illustrates a balanced unity between man and nature. She represents Ántonia as the embodiment of man’s virtue: timeless, innate, and “universal.” Cather majestically describes the relationship between man and nature and Jim’s adoration for his beloved Ántonia.