My Antonia :: essays research papers

1. Discuss the significant of each of the following citations. Provide several examples that support each quote. A. "The country girls were considered a menace to the social order. Their beauty shone out too boldly against a conventional background. But anxious mothers need have felt no harm. They mistook the mettle of their sons. The respect for respectability was stronger than any desire in Black Hawk Youth." The above quotation is telling about how the elderly people of Black Hawk did not trust the younger girls. This brought about when the young girls: Antonia, Tiny, Lena, etc. and Jim would constantly go to the parties held in Black Hawk. Jim's grandmother especially did not approve of Jim going to parties. Although, Jim continued to go, but eventually felt that he should obey his grandmother. Antonia, whom was working for the Harlings, was forced to choose between going to parties or continue working for them. She chose to continue going to parties, but then started to work for the Cutters. B. "This was the road over which Antonia and I came on that night when we got off the train at Black Hawk...For Antonia and for me, this had been the road of Destiny; had taken us to those early accidents of fortune which predetermined for us all that we can ever be. Now I understood that the same road was to bring us together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, and incommunicable past." The above quotation is showing the importance of Jimmy and Antonia's friendship. The road brought them together since they shared a significant amount of memories at the road. Jimmy remembers those special times he had with Antonia when he approaches the road. It is also a symbol for friendship, and the possibility of it being rekindled and/or never forgotten. 2. How is the following and accurate depiction of Antonia? How are the enumerated traits revealed throughout the story? "More than any other person remembered, this girl seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood." (Jimmy) This is an accurate description of Antonia because she lived in many conditions where she had to quickly adapt. When she moved to Nebraska, she was not used to living in her poor surroundings. Most of the time she had a fairly good attitude about this, following her father's footsteps, although her mother did not have a very good attitude.