3. In My Antonia, Cather uses symbols from nature to express the essential aspects of the lives of the characters. Some symbols are of the land: the prairie, the grass, winter, etc. Other symbols are animals: badgers, wolves, rattlesnakes, larks, etc. Choose three symbols and discuss how they convey information about the daily lives of the characters, how the characters relate to each other and/or how Cather views life. Willa Cather’s use of symbols in her book, My Antonia, not only expresses the essential aspects of the lives of the characters, but also engages the reader’s senses, immersing them in the scene. Three symbols that stood out to me were the prairie rattlesnake; the changing colors of Autumn and winter; and the ravenous wolf pack. All …show more content…
My name is Jack Swede; I am a second-generation pioneer. The date is March 5, 1848. My family is about to set off and leave Independence, Missouri, in hopes to settle some land in California. We hear that there is some gold round those parts. Pa is hoping we get filthy rich. We’ve spent all our earnings for this trip. We bought two oxen and a horse. The oxen will pull our wagon full of food, cooking utensils, guns, and pickaxes to mine gold. March 6, 1848. Pa wakes me up and tells me its time to go. It’s still dark outside, so it must be real early in the morning. Ma is heating up some milk on the stove. My little brother is beside me still foggy and stirring awake. Our breakfast was the same as any other: milk and bread. Sometimes, if we were lucky, Ma would come home from town with butter, but that was only for special occasions. We get everything packed and thank our friends, the Camerons, for allowing us to stay with them since we had sold everything we had for this trip. Those were the last people, other than my family, that I saw for the next two