Many immigrants traveled under desperate situations to pursue the American dream. Many authors try to capture those experiences for native born Americans to understand. In the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather, Antonia, a Bohemian immigrant, has to work her way through the American life. Antonia and her family came to America with next to nothing. They didn’t know the language which left them more susceptible to lies. Krajek cheated them out of what little money they had left after their travels and they barely had enough to survive. The Burdens, however, who lived close by were happy to help and provided many necessary items that got the Shimerdas through the winter. They even offered to teach Antonia English, which she then began to teach to her family. Throughout the novel, Antonia learns many life lessons, lessons that help her through life in America. She can learn from these and teach the same to her children. One lesson she learns is that hard work is needed to achieve goals. Antonia has worked for everything she 's ever had whether it be to put food on the table or to build her life. In the book it mentions that she and her husband, Cuzak, built the house they live in now themselves. Antonia always envied the town girls and wanted a life like theirs. Now, she has an amazing house and land that she is incredibly proud of, all of it she worked for. Antonia says to one of her children, “‘Yes, child but why don’t we take him [Jim] into the parlour, now that we’ve got a