My Antonia

1) When does language interfere with equal opportunity for immigrants? Krajiek takes advantage of the Shimerdas when they need a place to live by overcharging them for the shabby living quarters he offers; because they do not speak English, they are unable to see through the scam.
2) How does one’s culture pre-destine a person for a specific lifestyle? When coming to America, culture and ethnicity play a huge part in how you will be treated upon arrival. There are so many people who discriminate against minority cultures and do not offer equal treatment to those outside their own culture. Despite this, foreigners in this country will most likely stand out due to a lack of knowledge of the American culture barrier through which they have penetrated.
3) Which characters are able to step out of their pre-destined position? Lena Lingard is a “hired girl” and is expected to become nothing more; instead she becomes a successful, independent business woman.
4) Which characters struggle with their assigned place? Why does Cather allow the reader to see this struggle? How is it part of the American Dream? Mrs. Shimerda struggles to become something more than a destitute foreign woman, achieving nothing but appearing to be greedy and unpleasant. Jim also struggles to figure out where he fits into the American puzzle; he struggles with whether or not it’s appropriate to date hired girls, as well as what to do with his life as an adult.
5) Boundaries: where do boundaries occur in the novel? (community recreation and housing and customs) Jim isn’t sure that dancing with/dating the hired girls is proper. The immigrants do not get the nice housing.
6) Immigration: identify the different immigrants and indicate each one’s circumstance. Mrs. Shimerda – mother and wife from Bohemia; speaks little English; lives in poor conditions; wants everything for her family and will stop at no amount of greed to get what she wants. Mr. Shimerda – father and husband from Bohemia; lives in poor conditions; was forced to come to America and is very unhappy; commits suicide. Antonia Shimerda – sister and daughter from Bohemia; lives in poor conditions; befriends Jim Burden and learns English from him; is ordered around by her brother Ambrosch; ends up with a child and no husband until the end of the story. Ambrosch Shimerda – brother and son from Bohemia; takes control of the household after his father’s suicide. Pavel and Peter – Russian immigrants who were exiled; Pavel falls while working and dies, leaving Peter to fail at life and leave Nebraska.