ipl-logo

Theme Of Childhood In My Antonia

548 Words3 Pages

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. On the prairie Jim and Antonia’s friendship is uncomplicated and filled with innocence. Both don’t realise their contrasting ethnic background and social class, and the worries of gender, social problems, and work does not burden their spirits like it does the adults. This ignorance shows the reader the amount of innocence the characters have during their childhood years. “Yet the summer which was to change everything was coming nearer every day… and they have to grow up, whether they will or …show more content…

“As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea... And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.” book one chapter two. Even after Jim grows up, he still retains the childlike wonder of the land around him. The amount of admiration that Jim holds for the land reflects on his innocence as a child. He still sees the beauty in the land, while an adult only sees work that needs to be done. This also shows maturity in that Jim is able to see beyond what society takes from the land and find a different perspective of his surroundings.
The concept of childhood can drastically change the way a story is viewed by the audience. In My Antonia, the theme of childhood is represented through themes of innocence and maturity throughout the book. These topic of adolescence through Jim shapes the meaning behind Cather’s story to be about life and

Show More
Related
764 Words | 4 Pages

Where It All Begins As it is revealed in the novel, Define “Normal”, the setting plays a crucial role in the plot development. Fairly quickly in the novel, it is shown that the main character, Antonia’s mother has a severe case of depression which often leaves her extremely volatile and lackadaisical about her well-being and the others around her. Antonia typically finds her lachrymose and inconsolable, not wanting to be comforted or surrounded by anyone. Because of Patrice’s depression, Jazz and Antonia are led to become closer in many ways. Antonia’s mom’s depression brought on a sequence of events that helped Antonia grow as a person through the story.

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

Despite the title of the book, “My Antonia” is very much centered on Jim Burden. The story begins with an outlook on Jim’s adult life, and we are then catapulted into his Nebraskan childhood. As the book progresses, we witness the mental and emotional development of Jim as he has new experiences and meets numerous people. The book then concludes with Jim again as an adult. As a reader, I have observed him complete a cycle (going from point a, to point b and arriving at point a again).

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

(Steinbeck 530) By now, Jim has proved that he is a leader, and that he has found meaning to his life through the Party and the strike. Ultimately, Jim developed greatly from the beginning of the novel, to the moments shortly before his death. At the beginning of the novel, his life seemed pointless, unfulfilling, and miserable.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

The theme of this book is growing up and the loss of innocence, and how children mature and learn right from wrong as they get older. 7. Tom Sawyer: “He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it- namely, that in order to make a man or boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.” (p.23) This quote shows how Tom is able to outsmart the other boys into doing his work for him, and is an example of how much of a troublemaker he can be by doing things like this.

Read More
742 Words | 3 Pages

He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.

Read More
1203 Words | 5 Pages

“You influence my likes and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times when I don’t realize it. You really are a part of me”(Cathera 206). My Antonia by Willa Cathera captures the story of Jim, the narrator, and Antonia, growing up in the rural lands of Nebraska, and follows their lives through adulthood. Through this novel, the care Jim and Antonia share becomes blatantly apparent and their relationship becomes more and more indescribable. Antonia's perseverance affects Jim’s compassion.

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

Kidd uses the characterization of Lily, T. Ray, May, and Deborah to demonstrate the theme that people’s lives are more complex than they appear. By using these characters, Kidd demonstrates how judgements are made about people based on their actions. People don’t always think about how a person really feels on the inside and they do not know about everything that goes on in their head. This is a theme that is significant to the world at any time period because everyone can relate to it. Therefore, the theme of this story is significant in people’s lives

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

This creates a positive tone, as Antonia is thriving in her new country. However, the mood shifts abruptly from joyful to somber with a harsh winter and the death of Antonia’s father. These events cause the two kids to drift apart, and the effects on Antonia are evident as she withdraws from Jim and his family. Jim notes that “before the spring was

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

Within the excerpt Life on the Mississippi, the author Mark Twain, applies imagery in order to portray how his perspective towards his surrounding environment gradually altered as he began to truly contemplate and identify the Mississippi River. By first scrutinizing his surroundings the author emphasizes the magnificence of the river as this was his initial outlook towards the river. This perspective ultimately diminishes as a result of the speaker comprehending the true connotation of the Mississippi River. Nonetheless, the author questions whether acquiring knowledge can truly benefit an individual or impede one from being open-minded to their surroundings. Twains initial depiction of the Mississippi River is quite positive as conveys

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

Author Erica Funkhouser’s speaker, the child of the farm laborer, sets the tone in “My Father’s Lunch,” through their narrative recount of the lunch traditions set by their father preceding the end of a hard days worth of work. The lunch hour was a reward that the children anticipated; “for now he was ours” (14). The children are pleased by the felicity of the lunch, describing the “old meal / with the patina of a dream” (38-39) and describing their sensibilities as “provisional peace” (45). Overall, the tone of the poem is one of a positive element, reinforced by gratitude.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

In the first chapter, “A Fable for Tomorrow” Rachel Carson tells a short story about a beautiful town in America. “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings...” (Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 798.) Carson goes on to talk about the beauty that was in America when the settlers first built their homes and families. From the numerous birds to the crystal rivers filled with fish, the beautiful scene aids the audience to visualize what America looked like before contamination.

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

“Quotes.” Good morning, that was an attention grabber, as you all already know me, I shall continue with the presentation. This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff is a memoir where he recollects his adolescence as his life moves with an ever-changing direction. As Wolff changes his name to Jack in his adolescence, I will be referring to his younger counterpart as Jack and his older counterpart as Wolff for the purposes of this presentation. Jack is brought up by his mother in various places throughout the United States as they struggle to find a stable home.

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

The use of the words “fresh” and “green” create the image of a bountiful land, a new frontier to be explored. This new world represents a land of opportunity and possibility for the settlers. Fitzgerald uses this positive description to show the basis of the American dream; where it originated and what it once meant. He portrays America as an old island

Read More
1811 Words | 8 Pages

With the novel being read from a ‘twelve’ year old whose history motivates his understanding, perception and interpretation of the events he encounters and interprets to the reader,

Read More

More about Theme Of Childhood In My Antonia

Related Topics

Open Document