Symbolism In My Antonia

In My Antonia, Cather writes that Mr. Shimerda implores Jim to “Te-e-ach, tee-e-ach my Án-tonia” (book one: chapter three), though it is Jim who learns more. Jim is introduced as an orphan who has yet to discover who he is. Due to the loss of his parents, Jim travels to Black Hawk, Nebraska to live with his grandparents. After meeting the Schimerdas, an immigrant family, Jim begins teaching Ántonia English. Over the course of this friendship, Cather writes how Jim observes/admires Ántonia, leading to a new perspective on life and self-discovery.
For instance, when Black Hawk goes through changes in its social hierarchy due to the immigrant arrivals, Jim explains, “The country girls were considered a menace to the social order.” However, Jim

demonstrates his liking of Ántonia despite what others think by finishing his statement saying, “Their beauty shone out too boldly against a conventional background.” Jim also recognized the hard work and sacrifice the immigrant girls have all made stating, “Those girls had grown up in the first bitter-hard times, and had got little schooling themselves. But the younger brothers and sisters, for whom they made such sacrifices…” (book two: chapter nine).
Ántonia also influenced Jim because she was a symbol for everything Jim valued: freedom, adventure, and the beauty of nature. Within the introduction, the narrator expresses how Ántonia, “mean[t] to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood.” Jim ties Ántonia’s physical features to the beauty of nature when describing her eyes as, “big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood” (book one: chapter three).
Lastly, it is important to point out that Jim is the narrator, which makes what he has learned more evident. So, while Cather writes about how Jim teaches Ántonia, we do not know her inner thoughts/feelings. Meanwhile, Jim clearly states how Ántonia has influenced his thoughts and has helped to shape him as a character. For instance, in book four: chapter four, Jim expresses to Ántonia that, “The idea of you is a part of my mind; you influence my likes and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times when I don't realize it.”