"My Antonia", Willa Cather - chapter XIV "I remembered ... any longer"

Résumé du document

Because of his losing his parents, Jim Burden has left Virginia to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. He discovers the Bohemian girl who has arrived to Black Hawk on the same train, on the same day as himself. This excerpt we have to study deals with Mr Shimerda's death. We can assert it is the first major point of the novel.

Because of his grandparents' going to visit the Shimerdas, Jim Burden is left alone in the house and he starts thinking about Mr Shimerda. This extract begins by "I knew it was homesickness that had killed Mr Shimerda" and ends by "He had been so unhappy that he couldn't live any longer". Indeed, it will be established Mr Shimerda has committed suicide.

There are good grounds, for saying he is the most tragic character of the novel and his life on the prairie is very short. When living in Bohemia, he used to be a weaver or trailor by trade. He used to be respected, have a reputation of a man of honor. He was used to having friends, for instance the trombone player. He was used to playing the fiddle at weddings and dances.

Extraits

[...] Jim has learnt Mr Shimerda's life in Bohemia from Antonia with whom spends most of his time. Story telling is another important topic in the novel People like telling about their nature countries. We can easily imagine communication helps to overcome the hardships, the isolationism of frontier life. Even if Willa Cather praises this,life, she acknowledges it's a hard life of struggle. For instance, we can read in this excerpt, Antonia had told Jim the story of a white hart that is to say a female deer which embodies here virginity. [...]

[...] It had begun to grow dark my household returned, and grandmother was so tired that she went at once to bed. Jake and I got supper, and while we were washing the dishes he told me in loud whispers about the state of things over at the Shimerdas'. Nobody could touch the body until the coroner came. If anyone did, something terrible would happen, apparently. The dead man was frozen trough, just as stiff as a dressed turkey you hang out to freeze Jake said. [...]

[...] As I understand it Jake concluded it will be a matter of years to pray his soul out of Purgatory, and right now he's in torment I don't believe it I said stoutly. I almost know it isn't true I did not, of course, say that I believed he had been in that very kitchen all afternoon, on his way back to his own country. Nevertheless, after I went to bed, this idea of punishment and purgatory came back on me crushingly. [...]

[...] "My Antonia", Willa Cather - chapter XIV remembered . any longer" This extract I remembered his contented face when he was with us on Christmas Day. If he could have live with us, this terrible thing would never have happened. I knew it was homesickness that had killed Mr Shimerda, and I wondered whether his released spirit would not eventually find its way back to his own country. I thought of how far it was to Chicago, and then to Virginia, to Baltimore and then the great wintry ocean. [...]

[...] However, Antonia has lost her father who has so much to her. His death will leave her disheartened. Considering the importance of landscapes, nature and the cycle of seasons, we can't help thinking That Mr Shimerda's deciding to die in winter is a symbol. There are good grounds for saying that nothing looks like more death than winter but it also foreshadows REBIRTH. For instance rebirth for the Shimerdas. As a conclusion, we could say this extract stresses the limits of the frontier life. [...]