Living on the Nebraska prairie in the late 1800’s was a hard life, but even more so if you were a girl from Bohemia who did not speak English. Antonia is the eldest daughter of the Shimerda family and is a bold and spirited young woman who becomes the center of the Jim Burden’s attention. Outlasting childhood poverty, family tragedy, and seduction that leads to betrayal, My Antonia describes how one woman survives the prairie using her strength, courage, and the immigrant spirit of hope for a better life. My Antonia begins on a train where two old friends, a nameless female and Jim Burden, have a conversation about their childhood past. One specific person stands out to both of them, Antonia Shirmeda. “During that burning day when