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Jim's Obsession In My Antonia By Willa Cather

448 Words2 Pages

Obsession is the attachment of a person's internal thoughts towards someone else. In My Antonia by Willa Cather, Jim immediately talks about Antonia in an obsessive way. He frequently mentions her in conversation from the moment he first heard of Antonia. Even though Antonia is described as opinionated and talks a lot, Jim spends a lot of time with her, observing and admiring everything about her. Jim’s romanticism leads to an obsession with Antonia. Jim seems to be obsessed with Antonia because she clearly says how she will always treat Jim as a child but he refuses to believe that and continues to obsess over her. Not only did Jim’s romanticism lead him to an obsession but his own insecurities as well. “Much as I liked Antonia, I hated the superior tone that she sometimes took with me. She was 4 years older than I, to be sure, and had seen more of the world.” (18) Jim never liked when Antonia made him feel like a child. Jim visits Antonia and when he leaves and walks down a road. He says, “As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and girl ran along beside …show more content…

Jim talked about how he would have a recurring dream about Antonia. “One dream I dreamed a great many times, and it is always the same. I was in harvest-field full of shocks, and I was lying against one of them. Lena Lingard came across the stubble barefoot, in a short skirt, with a curved reaping-hook in her hand, and she was flushed like the dawn, with a kind of luminous rosiness all about her.” (98) He has stayed attached to her for so long and even in the end the last thing he thought about was him and Antonia. “Now I understood that the same road was to bring us together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past.” (136) He knows they will always find their way back to each other because he is

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Jim lives with his grandparents in Black Hawk, and two farmhands, Jake and Otto Fuchs. Jim arrives in Nebraska after his parents have died, at the same time as Antonia and her family. The Shimerda family live close to Jim’s grandparents, and they become friends. Jim teaches Antonia to speak English, and they spend a lot of time together exploring where they live. The Shimerdas are not doing very well in Nebraska, and Jim’s grandparents try to help them by providing food and items they can use.

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But even though Marcus is pain to Jim, he admired his spirt and great courage. Before Marcus’s doomed

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In her novel “My Antonia,” Willa Cather shows the impact the Hired Girls have on Jim is the way they offer him a nostalgic connection to his past by using the works of Virgil, and from this connection Jim is able to reach deep intellectual and personal understanding. After being away from his childhood home for many years, and in the midst of pursuing his studies, Jim is reunited with Lena Lingard. The effect she has on him is immediate and lasting, and after seeing her for the first time Jim finds himself thinking of the past. “When I closed my eyes I could hear them all laughing - the Danish laundry girls and the three Bohemian Marys.

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Jim was forced to leave everything he had ever known due to the fact of his parents dying and move to the Midwest, not only to live with his grandparents but also to restart his life altogether. Jim who was a young American boy had many no real responsibility when it came to working on his grandparents’ farm. When he first arrives he is allowed to sleep most of the next day, and was even offered to be bathed by his grandmother. Jim basically became spoiled upon entry to his new environment. “The first night at the house Jim was informed by Otto that his grandparents had bought him a pony as a welcoming present” (Cather 53).

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This visitation had intensified the already vivid memories of his childhood. Lena’s visit had brought along an aura of warm and friendship with her. Lena’s visit had brought along a surge of flashbacks as Jim had stated he could plainly hear the laughs of the Danish and Bohemian girls. However, Lena eventually has to leave and Jim’s best days fled with her. Though everyone goes through a cycle of some sort throughout their life the one I have witnessed while reading My Antonia is to an extent is very different.

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By looking at specific moments throughout the novel, we can see how Jim changed from a man whose life was unfulfilling, to a man whose life comprised of leadership and confidence. As shown in his interview with Harry Nilson, Jim and his family had a haunted past. “My old

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All individuals are not born perfect. Every individual has their flaws that has a positive or negative impact to those around them and the society. All individuals have flaws that can or cannot hide from the rest of the world. Scholars of psychology argue that obsessions cause individuals to achieve perfection and can have a positive or negative aspect to an individuals’ life. Perfection is the conditions, state, or quality of being free as possible from all flaws or defects.

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Antonia was around the same age as Jim so she gravitated toward him. Jim was Antonia's first friend when they moved to Nebraska. Jim taught Antonia how to speak English

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In Willa Cather’s book, My Antonia, the theme of childhood can be seen throughout the book and affects the meaning taken from the story. A childhood theme can add so much to a story and really drive the points the author wants to make. As the novel follows Jim throughout his childhood the theme of innocence and maturity are displayed throughout the story in multiple circumstances. Jim and Antonia’s relationship revolves around their adventures as they explore the prairie and all its wonders.

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For instance, Anaya states Antonio’s thoughts, and one of his thoughts about Antonio’s death was that “A priest could have saved Lupito” (23). Antonio feels that guilt, which makes him more sensitive

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and I yelled, ‘Now stay there! You stay there!’ And I went to my room and I put in my headphones because I needed not to hear from him just for a little while and–’” (247). She continued to cry while Antonia did what she could to console her.

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With this interpretation, the focus is Antonia’s lasting effect on Jim- with not as much thought of how the latter affects his older neighbor. Throughout My Antonia, Antonia’s life is shaped by her relationship with Jim. When the Shimerdas first move to the Nebraskan prairies, Jim has just moved in with his grandparents. Jim and Antonia become friends immediately, and it seems as though all will go well for the young girl. Along with being a friend, Jim fulfills Mr. Shimerda’s request of being a teacher to his new neighbor, helping Antonia learn English.

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Jim’s ability to oversee what he was, shows how deep and sophisticated Jim’s character is. Jim’s move to maturity is also signifyingly evident, Jim’s nature of being a man before his time is shown through his way of viewing the war after his involvement in the Great War. “The world when you looked from both sides was quite other than a placid, slow-moving dream, without change of climate or colour and a time and place for all.” (pg. 103). Jim’s character has grown up from his innocence, his has lost his vison of a beautiful world, and has shown that all the beauty of nature has no place in a war.

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To me, courage is the strength to take a leap of faith even though you don’t know what might be lying below. I once had the courage to do what fear and anxiety were guiding me away from. This courage was jumping 16 feet off of Jaws Bridge into the dark, rocky, thrashing sea. For years I had toyed with the idea of jumping off Jaws Bridge on our annual trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

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Earlier before this Rita had made the assertion that Jay’s sister was crazy. “Your sister’s crazy, isn’t she?” (Hemley, Whipped 115). Initially, this really bothered Jay and he began to stand up for his sister before backing down. “Sure she’s crazy,” I said.

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