Nebraska Landscape in My Antonia

The atomic number 10 adorn Humankinds relationship to its environment is one of the strongest bonds people basis select. In Willa Cathers My Antonia, this relationship is shown through many of the characters want to tabulator to their hometown of Black Hawk, Nebraska. What they find they miss is a lost executeting, a vanished humankind of people, places, and cancel surroundings. They all develop a strong attachment to the Nebraska adorn, which never seems to leave them. Part of the reason for this association is that the novel is set in a time and place where the weather places limitations on the characters.As a result, the characters are simply more in tune with the weather and the natural elements in general. The landscape gives their smellings and thoughts a physical form, and reveals the theme of human connection with its surroundings as a whole. Jims relationship with the Nebraska landscape is important on its own terms, but it also comes to represent Jims relationshi p with the people and culture of Nebraska as well as his inner self. The river, that Jim and Antonia enjoy swimming in, represents his free soul.Jim always allows himself to enjoy the candid things in life and adventure with Antonia, but keeps his goals in mind. The wide impart Nebraska plains represent his open-minded, romantic personality that develops as he grows up. When he starts college, he finds himself beginning a relationship with his old friend Lena, and does everything in his power to make her happy. The landscape seems to shape his life and personality, changing and maturation as he does. It also mirrors Jims feelingsit looks desolate when he is nongregariousand also awakens feelings within him.Another example of landscape description symbolizing the feeling of a situation is at the burial of Mr. Shimerda. Mr. Shimerda commits suicide after a particularly difficult winter, and his family is devastated regarding his loss and their economic situation. His funeral is al so held in the jobless of winter, the coldest time of year. The land is unyielding and unforgiving, just as it had been for the Shimerdas trying to make a living off of it when they moved to Nebraska. There seems to be a bitter feel at the funeral, almost as bitter as the cold air outside.The plow, which Jim and Antonia see silhouetted against the enormous setting sun, also reveals the theme of the connection between human culture and the natural landscape. As the sun sets behind the plow, the two elements are combined in a mavin image of calmness, suggesting that man and nature also coexist harmoniously. However as the sun sinks lower on the horizon, the plow seems to grow smaller and smaller, in the long run reflecting the dominance of the landscape over those who inhabit it.