Shimerda Essays

  • The Character of Marek Shimerda in My Antonia

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Character of Marek Shimerda in My Antonia In Willa Cather's novel, My Antonia, Marek Shimerda is starved for attention because he is constantly ignored due to his mental retardation. It is solely because of his handicap and the assumption of his inability to help out with the farming and household chores that his family views him as helpless which results in Marek's strange and awkward actions. He is presented as an ill minded young man throughout the novel, repeatedly excused, and

  • Free My Antonia Essays: The Character of Antonia Shimerda

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Character of Antonia Shimerda in My Antonia Antonia Shimerda spends her whole life fighting, yet she is not known to be belligerent. She is constantly being battered, but still has no visible scars. Antonia is a girl who suffers all through her life, and somehow manages to keep an optimistic outlook. She is one of those rare people who gain character, rather than resentment, by enduring hardship. Throughout the book, MY ANTONIA, the strength and perseverance of this girl definitely portray

  • Special Bond In Willa Cather's My Antonia

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Antonia and Jim of My Antonia           In Willa Cather's My Antonia a special bond is formed, shattered, mended, and eventually secured between the main characters, Antonia Shimerda and Jim Burden. Jim and Antonia seem to be destined to affect each other's lives dramatically, from the beginning of the novel.                Starting at a young age, the main characters lives are intertwined. They form a special bond, which have both positive and negative affects on their relationship

  • My Antonia

    1460 Words  | 3 Pages

    remarkable woman whose strength and passion epitomize the pioneer spirit. Characters: Jim Burden - The man narrating the story. Antonia Shimerda -The daughter of Bohemian immigrants and the heroine of the      story. Ambrosch Shimerda - Antonia's mean brother Marek Shimerda -Antonia's mentally disabled brother. Yulka Shimerda - Antonia's younger sister. Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda - Antonia's gently father who committed suicide, and her bitter, complaining mother. Larry Donovan - The man Antonia thought was going

  • My Antonia Essay: Importance of Setting

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Importance of Setting in My Antonia The setting of the story has tremendous impact on the characters and themes in the novel "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. Cather's delicately crafted naturalistic style is evident not only in her colorfully detailed depictions of the Nebraska frontier, but also in her characters’ relationship with the land on which they live. The common naturalist theme of man being controlled by nature appears many times throughout the novel, particularly in the chapters containing

  • Examples Of Literary Criticism Of My Antonia

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    this novel. One symbol that some critics have discussed is the plow. It was said that the plow suggests a way of life that not only helps the land to flourish but the individual as well (Brown). Another symbol that many critics discuss is Marek Shimerda. The fact that Marek has webbed hands and feet sets him apart from the other "normal" children who seem to represent creativity and

  • My Antonia Essay - Life of the Immigrants

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bohemian family that just immigrated to America; the Shimerdas. Jim and Antonia, the Shimerda's daughter, quickly become friends. They traveled a great distance to meet each other. As immigrants, the Shimerdas were not very wealthy and getting on their feet was difficult. They were cheated into buying their home for more than it should have cost. The family got by on what they had, but ended up needing help from outside families. Mrs. Shimerda ended up getting many useful tools for their home from

  • Mr. Shimerda's Suicide in Willa Cather's My Antonia

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    experiences growing up with Antonia Shimerda in Nebraska. Throughout the book Jim reflects on his memories of Nebraska and the Shimerda family, often times in a sad and depressing tone. One of the main ways Cather is able to provoke these sad emotions within the reader is through the suicide of Antonia’s father, Mr. Shimerda. His death was unexpected by everyone and it is thought that homesickness is what drove him to take his own life. Homesickness was surely felt by Mr. Shimerda, as it was by many, but it

  • Conflict Shapes Character in Willa Cather's My Antonia

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author Willa Cather takes you through the life of a young Bohemian immigrant, Antonia Shimerda, as seen through the eyes of her good friend Jim Burden. At age ten, Jim Burden lost both of his parents and was sent to live with his grandparents on their Nebraska farm. He first meets Antonia when his grandmother and one of the farm hands take the Shimerdas some provisions. When they reach the Shimerdas farm, they find the family living in a cave dug out of the side of the hill. There are six

  • My Antonia

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    their mutual friend, Antonia Shimerda. Jim had first arrived in Nebraska at the age of ten, when he was made the trip west to live with his grandparents after finding himself as an orphan in Virginia. On this same train, Jim has his first glimpse of the Shimerdas, a Bohemian immigrant family traveling in the same direction. As fate would have it, the Shimerdas have taken up residence in a neighboring farm to the Burdens'. Jim makes fast friends with the Shimerda children, especially Antonia

  • My Antonia Essay: Theme of Separation

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Theme of Separation in My Antonia My Antonia, by Willa Cather, is a book tracing the story of a young man, Jim Burden, and his relationship with a young woman, Antonia Shimerda. Jim narrates the entire story in first person, relating accounts and memories of his childhood with Antonia. He traces his journey to the Nebraska where he and Antonia meet and grow up. Jim looks back on all of his childhood scenes with Antonia with nearly heartbreaking nostalgia. My Antonia, is a book that makes many

  • Mr. Shimerda Begs Jim To Te-E-Ach My Antonia

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    2. Mr. Shimerda begs Jim to “Te-e-ach, te-e-ach my Antonia” in Book I, Section III (just at the end). Who learns more through their relationship, Jim or Antonia? I think in the teaching relationship with Jim and Anotonia they both learn a great deal from each other. What Antonia learned from Jim was definitely more crucial for survival but what Jim learned was also valuable. Antonia learned english from Jim and Jim learned about another culture and a sense of adventure from Antonia. They both played

  • Immigrant Experiences In My Antonia

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    immigrants, the story of their settlement, [and] their assimilation” (Goggans 153). The Shimerdas are the protagonist immigrant family who traveled from Bohemia. Furthermore, Ántonia Shimerda is the young lady who inspired the entirety of the romantic novel. Even though My Ántonia is understood as a romance, the novel exemplifies experiences of new immigrants in the Nebraskan prairie. My Ántonia

  • My Antonia Essay: Mr. Shimerda's Suicide

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

  • How Does Mr Shimerda's Death Affect My Antonia

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    My Antonia It is true that in the novel, My Antonia book 1, the death of Mr. Shimerda has a profound effect on Antonia. Not only does it have an effect on Antonia but as well as her bother and even Jim Burden. The death of Mr. Shimerda is a tragic one seeing as he killed himself. Leading up to his death, Mr. Shimerda was very depressed living on the prairie. He longed to be back in his old country where he was an honorable man, a tailor and even

  • Cuzak's Boys

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Antonia Shimerda, a poor Bohemian immigrant that Jim befriends, or Gaston Cleric, a college professor and comrade of Jim. It is not until the end of the novel that Jim can exist as a free character, independent of others. Willa Cather’s My Antonia is a tale of the development of Jim Burden, which can be seen through the suicide of Mr. Shimerda, his attempt to kiss Antonia, and his reconciliation with Antonia at the end of “The Pioneer Women’s Story.” Mr. Shimerda is the patriarch of the Shimerda family

  • A Comparison of Death in The Scarlet Letter and My Antonia

    2306 Words  | 5 Pages

    literature. Most often, death is portrayed as evil or gruesome, especially in commercial fiction. However, there are literary texts, which portray death through other factors. Through the depiction of the deaths of Arthur Dimmesdale and Mr. Shimerdas in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Willa Cather's My Antonia, respectively, the reader is able to associate the significance of such issues as guilt, revenge/murder, religion, and the consequences of the two deaths. It may seem odd

  • My Antonia Essay - An American Tale

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    so they were called Pavel and Peter” (54.)  The most renowned set of foreigners were the Shimerdas coming for Bohemia.  The divergent nationalities played an important role in effecting the foreigners’ lives.  For example, the Shimerdas had “hated Krajiek, but they clung to him because he was the only human being from whom they could talk  or from whom they could get information” (53.)  Because the Shimerdas had immigrated to America and were no... ... middle of paper ... ...hem warm during the

  • The Trials and Tribulations of Jim Burden

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    family. Since he has no paternal figure in his life, Jim is unable to decipher the emotional pain of Mr. Shimerda. At this point, Jim first starts to contemplate his romanticized view on life. The irony of this is when Mr. Shimerda promises to give Jim his gun after he becomes a real man. Antonia translates it into, “My tatinek say when you are big boy, he give you his gun” (Cather 32). Mr. Shimerda defines being a real man as being able to provide for your family, which he has been unable to do since

  • Death In My Antonia Death

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    Archbishop, with several deaths spread throughout the novels: the violent deaths of Mr. Shimerda and the Cutters in My Àntonia, as well as the peaceful deaths of Father Joseph Vaillant and Father Jean Latour in Death Comes for the Archbishop. In Willa Cather’s My Àntonia, death is depicted as a much more violent and dismal affair than in Death Comes for the Archbishop, with the murder/suicide of Mr. Shimerda and the murder-suicide of Wick Cutter and his wife. The first incident of such is relayed