An esay based on my opinions of My 'Antonia, by Willa Cather.

Essay by GoodMornEvery1Junior High, 9th grade November 2004

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Is "My 'Antonia" really "My Jim"? Jim's memories.

"My 'Antonia" by Willa Cather is a boy's experience growing up with a bohemian girl named 'Antonia. But in the book, I maintain, that Jim is the main focus and that it is a book about his experiences, observations and passions and how they relate to 'Antonia and the people around him. A lot of this book does not even include 'Antonia. For instance almost all of book 3: Lena Lingard does not even mention her. Instead, it shows Jim's development and growth as a student. This book is called "My 'Antonia." This leads you to think that it is a book all about her, and what she does. Instead, it is a book about Jim, and how 'Antonia influences him, and how they grow up into the adults that they become.

A major part of this book is human emotion being linked mainly to memories.

Many times, Jim looks back passionately at his childhood, adolescence and manhood. This book was (though a fictional story) a recollection of the past through Jim's writing. His memories are what drive him and memory is brought up in this book very often.

In this book, Jim says in the last sentence of his story: "Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past." (286) Jim can still call upon these memories, but he cannot grasp the feelings like he did in the present, as he says throughout the book, memories are precious. Nevertheless, he admits that the past is incommunicable. What this book is mainly about is memories. About one's past, about the past that cannot be changed or relived. Through Jim's writing though, he does somewhat relive his past and make his memories stronger. The recollection of Jim's memories of 'Antonia...