Explore 1918：My Antonia— an affectionate story

When talking about American West novel, My Antonia is unmissable. It written by Willa Catha was first published in 1918. My Antonia portrays the pioneering spirit of European immigrants in Nebraska, their tribute to the world along with the rare spirit that they possess. This book is praised for “bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting.” But there I want to talk about the affectionate story itself.

In Jim’s first-person tone, he narrates the life in Nebraska and his love to neighbor ’s little girl Antonia. Antonia immigrated to the west from Bohemia, where she grew up with Jim from childhood. But Jim's love for Antonia was limited to "secret love".

They have a huge social difference: Jim is a native American boy who is intelligent and reserved. Antonia ‘s family are the first-generation immigrants to the United States. Because of the enormous gap between the old and new culture -- - from the original Bohemian aristocracy to arid Western, Antonia’s father shot himself. Babbitt's mother and brother were derided. Antonia must do farm work like a man. Her feelings for Jim, even if there is love, love is also a hidden heart.

They destined can’t have a happy ending. When the last time Jim come back to see Antonia, they know they would never meet again. Antonia said to Jim, “Of course it means you are going away from us for good, but that doesn’t mean I’ll lose you. Look at my papa here; he’s been dead all these years, and yet he is more real to me than almost anybody else. He never goes out of my life. I talk to him and consult him all the time. The older I grow, the better I know him and the more I understand him.”

Jim answered, “DO you know, Antonia, since I’ve been away, I think of you more often than of anyone else in this part of the world. I’d like to have you for a sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother or my sister——anything that a woman can be a man。The idea of you is part of my mind; 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.”

Like Jim describes Antonia that “I know so many women who have kept all the things that she had lost, but whose inner glow has faded. Whatever else was gone, Antonia had not lost the fire of life.” Even the time elapsed 100 years, this novel has not lost its light.

Cites
Cather W. My Antonia. Oxford University Press; 2006 Feb 9.

Full Movie My Antonia on Youtube:

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