My Antonia Essay: Mr. Shimerda's Suicide

Mr. Shimerda's Suicide

Willa Cather uses the character`s in My Antonia to portray certain messages throughout the novel. Every story Willa Cather tells in My Antonia has a message behind it. For example, Willa Cather used Mr. Shimerda's suicide to present the hardships immigrants encountered when coming to America.

The reason Mr. Shimerda commits suicide is because he feel like a failure to his family and to himself. Mr. Shimerda felt he had a better life back in Europe, and when he came to America he had little to nothing. The Shimerda's lived in a cave house, and they had to work hard for the little money they had. Willa Cather tells through Antonia how sad her father really was, “My papa sad for the old country. He not look good. He never make music any more. At home he play violin all the time; for weddings and for dance. Here never. When I beg him for play, he shake his head no. Some days he take his violin out of his box and make with his fingers on the strings, like this, but never he make the music. He don’t like this kawn-tree.” (Cather 102). Through Mr. Shimerda, Cather presents

the struggles immigrants coming to the western portion of America had to face. Mr. Shimerda also had to deal with getting scammed when he first arrived in America, by Peter Krajiek. Jim states, “The Bohemian family, grandmother told me as we drove along, had bought the homestead of a fellow-countryman, Peter Krajiek, and had paid him more than it was worth.” (Cather 22). With the character Peter Krajiek, Willa Cather illustrates how easily immigrants can be taken advantage of when they come to America. Although Mr. Shimerda thought it would be better for him to die than be miserable alive, his suicide had many reciprocations on his family.
Mr. Shimerda's death has a vast impact on the future of his family, most importantly, Antonia. Without Mr. Shimerda, the Shimerda`s struggle to make it on their own through the harsh winter. With this tragedy happening soon after the arrive in America, it is not a easy transition into American culture. Soon after his death, Antonia has to begin working on the farm, and later as a hired girl to help her family get by. Jim states, “The Shimerdas were in their new log house by then. The neighbors had helped them to build it in March.” (Cather 138). Although, the help of neighbors building the Shimerda`s a house helps them tremendously, and shows that their neighbors really do care for them. Through this story, Cather illustrates how people can come together and make a big difference when someone is in need. As Antonia and her family grieved, Antonia and Jim`s relationship grew even closer.
Willa Cather makes Jim out to care so deeply about Mr.

Shimerda's suicide, because she wants to illustrate how much he cares for Antonia. Antonia is deeply moved by the death of her father, and Jim is there for her through that. This creates a much stronger bond than they had before, because he had been with her through the good and the bad. Jim and Mr. Shimerda both equally cared for Antonia and wanted the absolute best for her. They both shared the interest in educating antonia, and that gave them a connection. Shortly after Mr. Shimerda dies, Jim states he feels Mr. Shimerda's spirit in their house, “Surely, his exhausted spirit, so tired of cold and crowding and the struggle with the ever-falling snow, was resting now in this quiet house.” (Cather 116). The death of Antonia`s father was just another way for Willa Cather to present the close bond between Jim and

Antonia.
For example, Willa Cather used Mr. Shimerda's suicide to depict the difficulties immigrants faced when moving to America. Through Mr. Shimerda's death, Willa Cather shows the authentic struggles of immigrants as they come to America. His death also changes how the Shimerda's live their new journey in America, by making it more difficult to move on and grow in a new country. It also presents to the reader how deeply Jim cares for Antonia, and is there for her through one of the toughest parts of her life.