Jim Burden’s Migratory Life in Willa Cather’s My Ántonia
TL;DRAbstract
In My Antonia, Willa Cather explores the dilemma faced by modern Americans who yearn for the warmth of domestic life but also fear the confinements of domesticity. In order to live freely and avoid regulation and assimilation, they often choose to live a migratory life; almost all Americans have the experience of detaching themselves from one place and moving to another. Starting from this background, this paper intends to explore why Jim Burden chooses a continuous migratory life. The author analyzes Jim Burden's first migration which goes from Virginia to Nebraska. This migratory experience offers him freedom and the suicide of Mr. Shimerda illustrates the terror of being immobile and confined to one place. This paper argues that it is his desire for freedom and fear of immobility that urge him to escape from domesticity and live in continuous migration.
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In My Antonia, Willa Cather explores the dilemma faced by modern Americans who yearn for the warmth of domestic life but also fear the confinements of domesticity. In order to live freely and avoid regulation and assimilation, they often choose to live a migratory life; almost all Americans have the experience of detaching themselves from one place and moving to another. Starting from this background, this paper intends to explore why Jim Burden chooses a continuous migratory life. The author analyzes Jim Burden's first migration which goes from Virginia to Nebraska. This migratory experience offers him freedom and the suicide of Mr. Shimerda illustrates the terror of being immobile and confined to one place. This paper argues that it is his desire for freedom and fear of immobility that urge him to escape from domesticity and live in continuous migration.
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