To begin, the novel is written by a woman but told through the eyes of a male narrator. Jim is an intelligent, introspective young man who responds strongly to the land and the environment in … Jim Burden: The narrator of the novel.He and Antonia are childhood friends. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Quote 1. Set during the great migration west to settle the plains of the North American continent, the narrative follows Antonia Shimerda, a pioneer who comes to Nebraska as a child and grows with the country, inspiring a childhood friend, Jim Burden, to write her life story. Treball Final de Grau Silvia Adalid Marin Female Characters As Elizabeth Giglio says in her Feminism in My Ántonia, “whether they decide to marry and have children, travel, or succeed in the business world, they each decide on their own futures without having their lives planned Introduction Quotes During that burning day when we were crossing Iowa, our talk kept returning to a central figure, a Bohemian girl whom we had both known long ago. During this time period, many immigrants were coming to America from countries all over Europe. Additionally, the characters in the story break from stereotypical gender roles – the women are strong, athletic, and active, while the men are generally passive and weak. 17 Women take control of families, earn money, call the shots, and even do field work with the men. Already we see that Jim is just beginning a number of adventures – he's embarking on a trip to a new place, a new home with his grandparents, and a whole new stage of life (i.e., adolescence). Men were meant to act as providers, and women were meant to marry and care for the family. My Antonia Major Characters. This thesis will examine the consequences of gender role on identity in Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, The Professor’s House , and “Neighbor Rosicky.” Male … Rewarded Females Antonia vs. Jim The strong female roles are rewarded later on in the novel. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of My Ántonia and what it means. The Immigrant Experience in the United States. In the novel, Jim reflects back on his life and childhood experiences, with a particular focus on time spent with his dear friend, Ántonia Shimerda. Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Signet Classics edition of My Antonia published in 2014. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Antonia, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Gender and Sexuality 1: The incident when Jim kills the snake signifies the beginning of sexual and gender tensions of Jim and Antonia's relationship. Book 1, Chapter 3, pg. Jim begins My Ántonia as a recently orphaned ten-year-old moving from Virginia to Nebraska. perceived sex differences” (2). A summary of Themes in Willa Cather's My Ántonia. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. My Ántonia is important as historical fiction because it shows the reader a slice of life in a particular period of American history. Quotes Important Quotations Explained. After Jim leaves Black Hawk to attend college in Lincoln, and later Boston, he loses contact with Antonia. 321 quotes have been tagged as gender-roles: Margaret Thatcher: ‘In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. Quote 3: Antonia, the eldest daughter, is a striking-looking girl, with eyes that were "big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood". Gender roles, then, are tools used by society to set acceptable boundaries and ideals upon the sexes. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Antonia, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. In My Ántonia we see an apparent reversal of stereotypical gender roles. Jim Burden - The author of the youthful recollection that makes up the body of the novel.As a youth in Nebraska, Jim develops a close friendship with a Bohemian immigrant girl, Ántonia Shimerda.