Book Review: My Antonia

Note that each chunk below responds to one of the points and that each response contains three examples or explanation for support.
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A pioneer never quits, and Antonia, the main character in the novel Willa Cather's My Antonia, lives up to this theme studied in our English 11 class during the first nine weeks of the Fall 2010.

As the theme states, Antonia never quits. Not even when she becomes pregnant by a man who she thought she loved. Not even when her father died. Not even when faced with having to feed and care for so many children.

Another character that Cather develops in this novel, written in the early 1900's, include the narrator Jim...or does she? Jim seems to have a "crush" on Antonia throughout the entire novel, even when he visits her and her family twenty-plus years after having last seen her. The infatuation he seemingly had as a youth does not seem to diminish, even though both go different directions in life. Thus, the my in the title...My Antonia.

The novel's setting itself becomes a character within the novel as we see its impact on several of the characters. Nebraska in the early 1900's was hard on the people, resulting in Antonia having to "work like a man" in the fields in an attempt to help provide food for her family. On the other hand, the land seemed to embrace and bless Jim and his family in a much kinder fashion, as their gardens were productive and food was ample, both in the summer and throughout the winter. Winter, though, dealt all characters a harsh blow, shutting the families in while the storms howled through.

A fairly quick read, I would recommend this novel for such a study as ours, a read meant to be held in the hands of its readers. That's right, I would not recommend an online read of this novel. Besides, doesn't reading this novel online contradict the very setting of the novel itself? No computers in the early 1900's!