My Antonia Hardships

Immigrants do not always know what they are in for when coming to a new place. In Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia, a bohemian immigrant girl learns what it is to be a pioneer. When Antonia and her family come to America they do not speak english very well so she tries very hard to learn. Later when her father dies she must take on the roll of a man in her family. She then goes to work for a family where she learns how to sew, and cook and dance, and do things that a women may do. Antonia through her hard work grows up to be a great mother despite all of the hardships she has faced.
When Antonia and her family settled in America they knew very little english, but Antonia’s father knew that for his family to do well in America they would need to learn how to speak the language. He pleaded to Jim, “Te-e-ach, Te-e-ch my Antonia!” (1.3.16). If her father wanted her to learn she knew it was very important. She worked very hard and wanted to learn. She may not have realized it at the time but this mindset that she needed to do whatever it takes to be successful, was going to help shape her into the person she grew up to be.

Antonia had to step up and help take care of her family. She was not needed in the kitchen but in the fields. Everyday she would walk out to the fields and do the work of the man. Most people thought she was becoming too many but it was not her fault. She was around men all day, and this was her life now. She learned that things are not always going to be easy, and she will have to make tough decisions, but it does not matter if it is for you family. One night when her and Jim are talking on the roof she tells him “Things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us.” (1.19.77). She knew she had to work hard for her