Examples Of Ambiguity In My Antonia

*The Ambiguity of Willa Cather Making the Main Character a Man In My Antonia”

Ambiguity is the dimension of a text (idea, characterization, perspective, etc.) that can be described as a puzzle, as something strange or curious — a point of interpretative confusion, a problem.There are many subtle ambiguities in Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia, what will be concentrated on in this paper will be on Cather’s use of a male narrator and how the author chooses to describe the main female character. The female that will be focused on is Antonia.Antonia is described as wearing the clothing of a man, "After the winter begun she wore a man's long overcoat and boots, and a man's felt hat with a wide brim.” (203), the quote highlights the ambiguity of Cather’s description of a female wearing a man’s clothes which is uncharacteristic due to Antonia being a female;this is part of Cather’s agenda. Subtle ambiguities like these are throughout the text. The way in which Cather describes Antonia makes the reader question Jim Burden’s true feelings and what Cather is attempting to accomplish as a female writer during the early 1900s.

Willa Cather, purposely chose to make the narrator of the novel a man. Cather allows herself to insert the portrayal of feminist qualities to females in the book through the book being from the

perspective of Jim Burden; this enables the reader to view the roles of women without judgement due to Jim being a man. It is gathered that by using such a tactic, and controlling the maneuvers of Jim Burden, it may be considered that Cather calls for men's acceptance of women's abilities. Jim Burden declares “I’d have liked to have you for a sweet heart, or a wife, or my mother ... anything that a woman can be to a man," (217). Jim personifies men living in the twentieth century who admit that women may partake in societal roles of men, In the novel's introduction, the reader is drawn to the satisfaction of the creation of the title by Jim; "making it My Antonia that seemed to satisfy him." (Introduction viii) Jim's utilization of possessive pronouns reveals how much he cares for the success and achievement of Antonia as if she is his own.
The first and the last words of the novel hold importance in shaping Cather’s intentions for the novel. The novel begins with “I” and it ends with “past”.Cather cleverly uses the power of words to portray the relation between Jim and the novel. Both words are mentioned by Jim to display the devotion to notify and comment on accounts of the novel because this is simply a testament to Jim Burden’s childhood memories of Antonia.
As a result of Cather’s use of a male narrator is a way to view the relationship between men and women to be founded on norms in a society to establish an acceptable connection between genders. Since Cather tells Antonia’s story through a male narrator, Cather would not be accused of violating societal norms which may occur if she tells Antonia’s story through another females eyes. It would be peculiar and may not have accrued such attention. Cather uses Jim as her spokesperson to make her novel reliable to American society. It is also important to note that Willa Cather has Jim Burden attend Harvard University, arguably one of the most prestigious universities on the planet. By doing this, this allows the reader to think of Jim as intelligent so people may value his opinion towards females.
One development of Jim Burden’s character that is worth noting is Jim’s demanding nature. Jim throughout the novel is the one describing Antonia and her difference from the other girls. The Demanding nature of Jim becomes evident in the manner in which Jim is dismissive towards Antonia when she is being independent and not following the roles of the typical women during the time. “I was bitterly disappointed in her [Antonia]. I could not forgive her for becoming an object of pity…” (4.1) Jim believes that Antonia should live up to his defined expectations. When Antonia doesn’t comply Jim gets angry. Jim’s dismissiveness and demands do not fade until he sees Antonia have a family and live on a farm, it is then we truly see Jim praise Antonia as being such a wonderfully consistently awesome person, instead of simply being acknowledged for what she has done.
The use of a male narrator, allows Cather to portray the women in her novel with feminist qualities. The male narrator gives the average reader the ability to not question the roles being played by these women that dothings that are uncharacteristic for the time period. Cather does this effectively by putting Jim’s memories in chronological order. First she introduces conformist females in the plot. This allows for the reader to understand the development of feminist qualities within the main female character, Antonia.
The introduction of Mrs. Shimerda in the book is a perfect example of the traditional role of a conservative female in the novel, and she is crucial in Antonia’s upbringing. When Antonia’s mother is introduced, she is hugging her luggage “as if it were a baby.” Possessions are dear to Antonia’s mother and she bears the deprivations of immigrant life poorly. Jim thinks Mrs. Shimerda is conceited and is controlling towards her family. The conservatism of Antonia’s mother becomes evident through the manner in which she treats her family, Since Mrs. Shimerda according to Jim controls her family, wouldn’t the development of Antonia’s feminist qualities make sense since her mother has controlling qualities? Therefore, it makes sense that Antonia establishes free spirited mindset to counteract the rude and controlling nature of her mother.
Jim meeting Antonia when she was about thirteen enables the reader to understand that Antonia has already developed a strong personality. "Antonia had opinions about everything, and she was soon able to make them known" (22). The strength of Antonia becomes evident through Cather’s usage of the words “and she was soon able to make them known" (22) because in Jim’s mind Antonia is an important figure and he takes time to understand her.Later in the novel, Antonia becomes more known through her expressive movements at the weekly dances; Cather describes her
Ability to dance as being far superior, and dancing a much different dance than the girls of Black Hawk. Antonia’s ability to portray her independence and difference through her dance moves are imperative in the novel due to the two mentioned traits being feminist qualities (independence and being different). The next important step in Antonia’s dance and Cather’s writing is that her dance moves were praised by all the people at the dances in Black Hawk. Cather does this on purpose. Cather characterizes Antonia as different from other people is because she herself isn’t from the United States, and the beginning years of her life in Bohemia and following the customs and traditions from there while still becoming acclimated to the lifestyle of the Americas? And that what Antonia embodies is a foreign concept because feminism or the introduction of feminism will be foreign when introduced into society.
The advance of Antonia’s feminist nature becomes further evident when Ambrousch Antonia’s older brother becomes in charge of the Shimerda farm.

”Ambrousch hired his sister out like a man, and she went from farm to farm, binding sheaves or working with the threshers. The farmers liked her and were kind to her, said they would rather have her for a hand than Ambrousch" (95). The use of Antonia as a worker by Ambrosch spurs the development of her independence as a female. Field work leads Antonia to strengthen muscles that Jim characterizes as the muscles of a man. The muscles that were developed by Antonia are a metaphor for Antonia leaving societal

norms.
Throughout the novel we see that Antonia has uncharacteristic things happen to her. Antonia becomes pregnant outside of marriage. This is important because this shows Antonia’s independence as she is going to have to raise the baby without another stream of income, and without a ring on her finger. Bearing a child out-of-wedlock and raising it alone is shameful according to Black Hawk standards. Later in the novel Antonia marries Mr. Cuzak and practically leaves society to live on a farm with her eleven kids. Antonia rules the household with a gentle, loving hand. She loves her life on the country and is devoted to the land. Antonia becomes a character who develops greatly throughout the novel, learning from her mistakes, and the misfortunes that occur Antonia still leads a happy and good life through Jim’s eyes when he visits Antonia. The development of Antonia brings full circle her development of being an independent and different person throughout her life aids her to leading a quaint and happy life.
As a result of Willa Cather using a male as the main character/narrator in the novel it becomes acceptable for Cather to have characters with strong feminist qualities throughout the book. Cather does a good job of utilizing the power of writing to enable her add notions of feminism to the characters and the beginning of acceptance of females in society. The development of a clear feminist through the eyes of a man is also important because it shows that if Antonia can undergo hardship, and still be happy and lead a pleasant life that any female regardless of circumstance may fight and still be happy. For the betterment of society, My Antonia allowed the reading public to come across a novel where men recognized the importance of females in society, and gave a guideline for women to feel the necessity to stand up for themselves to do what they believe is right which is Cather’s underlying agenda.