My Ántonia Literary Analysis True friendship is based on support and loyalty. In her story, "My Ántonia," Willa Cather presents memories about places and individuals that are very dear to each other in one of the fascinating ways. The author begins her story with a simple, pure childhood friendship with the main characters. It gives readers an excellent insight into what they will gain after going through the entire novel, considering that the introduction narrates more about friendship relationships. The novel also follows many reunions and separations of the main characters as they grow up. However, despite their many struggles, they remain loyal mainly to their memories regarding their childhood, whereby they preserve an allegiance of one another. In this case, Willa Cather's "My Ántonia" expresses the friendship theme, particularly because of the novel's characterization and symbolic language, which highlights people's relationships during that period. After losing both parents in the same year, Jim begins his journey to Nebraska, whereby he narrates various friendship encounters, a theme that Willa Cather shows through her characterization. The kind of relationship individuals might encounter in the novel includes the friendship between Jim and Jake, Shimerdas, Pavel and Peter, Shimerdas and the Burdens, as well as friendship between Jim and Ántonia which marks the central relationship in the novel. The author characterizes Jim as the main character in My Ántonia. The story begins with the 10-year-old young boy traveling with his close friend, who also worked on their farm before his parents died, Jake, to his grandparent's home. Jim had a good relationship with his hometown, Virginia, until he arrived in Nebraska. According to Cather (2013), Jim felt that he had left the world behind. The author also reveals a good friendship between Jim and his grandmother. She had been crying, but after seeing Jim's arrival, she smiled and sat on the foot of his bed, wishing him to have a good sleep. In this case, Willa
characterizes Jim's grandmother as someone with a loving maternal figure, particularly for Jim. Moreover, Jim's grandfather also reveals his dignity and deliberateness whereby he kisses Jim and speaks well to him after he arrives. Nonetheless, the Burdens family were kindhearted people, whereby one morning, they decided to visit their new neighbors, the Bohemian family. My Ántonia (1998) described Mr. Burdens as a generous man who had beards like the ancient prophets. They befriended the Shimerdas who had arrived at the Nebraska ill-equipped primarily for life on a Prairie. Immediately after they arrived, the Burdens moved to offer them hospitality, whereby seeing the friendship the two families were making, Mrs. Shimerdas requested Mrs. Burden to teach her daughter English (Cather, 2013).
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