Willa Cather Essays

In the book “O Pioneers!” Willa Cather discusses her views on the three philosophies of life. She makes it clear as to which one she personally adheres, from a Realistic, Romantic and Naturalistic view of the world. Cather uses many circumstances of each type of philosophy. Willa uses Romanticism lots of times in her story. For instance, in Part 4, Chapter 7-8 after Frank kills Marie and Emil, Cather says, “two white butterflies from Frank's alfalfa-field were fluttering in and out among the interlacing

In the book My Antonia by Willa Cather, one of the main characters is Antonia. Willa Cather admires the character Antonia for a variety of reasons. In fact, the character is actually based off of an actual girl from Willa Cather's childhood. The girl she choose to base Antonia off of was also the daughter of an immigrant who committed suicide after suffering through hopelessness and despair. I believe that Will Cather really admired Antonia for her positive attitude and her ability to always

Part A: Read "A Wagner Matinee" by Willa Cather to answer the following questions: 1. How would you describe the tone of this story? What in the story makes you say that? This story has a lot of tones. There are parts where he sounds emotional and guilty especially when he remembers that Aunt Georgiana used to help him with his studies and as a kind lady. Now that shes almost unrecognizable wearing "ill-fitting false teeth", he feels guilty for not treating her better. 2. What does the narrator

Pioneers Women’s Story” has the theme ostracization. The book shows ostracization mainly on one specific character, Antonia. Frequently in the book Antonia is seen ostracizing herself from the people around her. Reading through My Antonia, written by Willa Cather, there seems to be a specific theme, ostracization. In the beginning of “Book Four, The Pioneers Women’s Story”, Antonia is in Denver with her soon to be husband, but later, Antonia's friends and family don’t hear from her after several weeks

worse. In the short story “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather, this is Paul’s situation. Paul is mentally ill and by the tragic ending of this story, this is made very apparent. Paul is alienated from society because he is different, mentally ill. He does not fit in, therefore creating an escape world of his own, further alienating himself, and further causing pain for himself in the long run. Through situational irony, color symbolism, and fantasy, Willa Cather exposes the alienation from society people

Among the three philosophies of life: Realism, Romanticism, and Naturalism, people tend to believe in one more strongly than others. After reading Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!” and the poem she named the book after, “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”, I have come to the conclusion that she had more of a Romantic outlook. Some may say that because many of the events in her book were Naturalistic she had a Naturalistic outlook, and while I understand where this thought stems from, I have to disagree. Although

Obsession is the attachment of a person's internal thoughts towards someone else. In My Antonia by Willa Cather, Jim immediately talks about Antonia in an obsessive way. He frequently mentions her in conversation from the moment he first heard of Antonia. Even though Antonia is described as opinionated and talks a lot, Jim spends a lot of time with her, observing and admiring everything about her. Jim’s romanticism leads to an obsession with Antonia. Jim seems to be obsessed with Antonia because

as the three philosophies of life. These three philosophies consist of Naturalism, Realism, and Romanticism. Author Willa Cather displays all three of these philosophies in her story, O Pioneers!, a novel inspired by the poem Pioneers! O Pioneers!, written by Walt Whitman. While Cather uses all three philosophies to write her novel, she uses Naturalism most frequently. Although Cather incorporated Realism in her novel, she seldom used it and made it hard to catch because she used it in the most dramatic

sheet-iron (Cather, Introduction).” Within the novel “My Ántonia,” the author, Willa Cather creates a fictional character Jim Burden whose childhood experiences seems to mirror Cather’s own life. This heartwarming story, written in autobiographical form, tells a tale of two very different people thrust together in similar circumstances during a vulnerable time in both of their lives. They forge a friendship that withstands much happiness, many hardships, and endures a lifetime. Could it be that Willa Cather

Layers of illusions are burned away and all Paul has left is reality. In Willa Cather’s tragic short story “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament,” the flowers capture the reality world Paul departs from. For instance, critic Sherry Crabtree asserts that the red carnation symbolizes Paul’s alienation from the world of Cordelia Street (Crabtree 206). Crabtree observes the patterns of how the flowers reveal Paul’s negative outlook of life. On the other hand, some critics claim that the flowers capture

In Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia, the author reveals the narrator’s nostalgic tone towards his hometown landscape through detail and imagery. Jim’s nostalgic tone towards the land is shown with details when waiting for his friends to meet for a picnic. When he decides to swim in the nearby river, Jim reflects, “For the first time it occurred to me that I should be homesick for that river after I left it… Charley Harling and I had hunted through these woods, fished from the fallen logs, until I

I’m the book my Antonia by Willa Cather, Antonia the main character learns many helpful lessons throughout her life. She is a fun character, that’s is not afraid of hard work. Throughout the book, she is trying to find herself. She learns three important lessons of independence, responsibility and happiness. Through learning these lessons, Antonia becomes a better person. To begin, Antonia learned and found her independence in order to help her family. After Antonia’s father’s sudden suicide, Antonia

My Ántonia is a novel originally published in 1918 under the author Willa S. Cather. The novel is often considered a modernist literary work because of the numerous progressive themes it highlights, as well as its unconventional characters. The novel is the memoir of the author’s fictional friend, Jim Burden, who reflects on the history of his lifelong friendship with an immigrant girl by the name of Ántonia. As both narrator and protagonist of the novel, a much older Jim reflects on the life he

Willa Cather was born on December 7, 1873, in the back creek valley of virginia. Willa was born during the civil war period, her paternal grandfather, william Cather, was opposed to slavery and had remained loyal to the north during the civil war (Meltzer 10). Due to her family political issues later, the adult Willa would shy away from causes, whether political or social, trusting herself and others to do the right thing and to offer generous help to individuals in need (12). Willa was homeschooled

“All the pulses of the world, Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat, Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us, Pioneers! O Pioneers!” Willa Cather’s depictions of frontier life exist as both realistic and specific. Cather grew up on the Nebraskan Great Plains, in surroundings that inspired the setting of “O Pioneers!” This story discusses the story of the Bergson family, who owns a farm on the highland prairies of Nebraska, otherwise knows as, "the

married is because, “even the wild ones” turn into cranky old fathers. This is reflective of her cynical memories of home, saying that her father was a cross man. Lena’s refusal to be married was a radical notion at the time of the books publication. Willa Cather portrays this decision as a noble one by having Lena’s independence portrayed in a good light. Independence is an overarching theme in Lena’s life, both past and present. As a child she was never away from more than two people and recounts to Jim

My Antonia, written by Willa Cather, is a novel about the childhood and life of Jim Burden and his relationship with his close friend, Antonia Shimerda, who was a Bohemian immigrant. Willa Cather’s meaningful life began on December 7, 1873 and ended on April 24, 1947. Miss Cather enjoyed popular and critical success. Her novels and writings are widely known, accepted, and loved. Featuring strong female characters in her novels is what she did best. Even more specific, these female characters

Alexandra Bergson ties to the author, Willa Cather. When Cather wrote this story, she used a lot of her own characteristics to develop Alexandra. In the story, Alexandra learns that Realistic, Romantic, and Naturalistic views exist throughout everything one might go through in life, very similar to what Cather most likely experienced. Cather’s three philosophies on life go along with the topics of Realistic, Romantic, and Naturalistic. I personally think Cather had more Realistic tendencies in her

In O’Pioneers!, Willa Cather uses her writing in order to express her naturalistic, romantic, and realist views on life itself through the characters, setting, and the plot. In the book, it is suggested that neither she nor the main character who depicts her does not go by society’s rules. Along with this, she also seems to value the hard work both the youth and the elders put out. Cather perhaps believes that the youth of the world will create better futures for everyone around them, and give others

Willa Cather wrote an amazing novel in the writing of My Antonia. She brought together a group of characters of all ages and genders and transformed them in front of the reader’s eyes. She proved that a person didn’t have to come from riches to be successful in her story, but that hard work could help a person who would reach for the stars attain that goal. Cather gave us the insight of a world that nobody alive will every truly understand and quite frankly one that we don’t want to relive. Willa