Presently Pavel began to talk to Mr. Shimerda, scarcely above a whisper. He was telling a long story, and as he went on, Ántonia took my hand under the table and held it tight. She leaned forward and strained her ears to hear him. He grew more and more excited, and kept pointing all around his bed, as if there were things there and he wanted Mr. Shimerda to see them. "It's wolves, Jimmy," Ántonia whispered. "It's awful, what he says!"
Yes, yes, and yes. I think you nailed it that this nostalgia is a form of forgetting; a whitewashing of sorts. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I see a critique here of what is beginning to emerge as national dominant myths about the American West and rugged individualism. Thoroughly enjoy the questions and discussion. Now to read what others have to say.
Appreciate this provocative questions. Chapter 7 and the snake shows me Josh what you hinted at last week. The way in which the story becomes larger than life. Jim is sickened by the horrific act of chopping the snake's head off. She shows us how quickly his negative reaction turns to positive feelings because of how Antonia responds to his violent act. This heady mix for young Jim Burden figuring out who he is and what is means to be a man out west. I am particularly struck by this dynamic in terms of gender. Cather shows us how females participate in the cultivation of this form of masculinity from Jim's innocent perspective. Jim is attracted to Antonia's admiration of him.
I’m amazed that wolf attack really happened! As I read, it seemed implausible, especially as reported third-hand. (I wondered if something was lost in translation.) I want to tackle some of your juicy questions but have a paper due Monday and sadly need to focus on that. I will be back in force next week. Thanks for doing this!
And did anyone else laugh out loud in Chapter 14 on this sentence: “ I looked forward to any new crisis with delight” ? It is sort of ironic how down thru the ages we all seem to hunger for drama. Having been raised in a regimented house and family I enjoyed anyone who would stop in and add some interest to our fairly predictable family life ( which I obviously took for granted).
Not sure if she ever saw Money’s Haystacks but maybe its just my trip to the fine art museum yesterday that made me feel an association with her description of the prairie grass near sunset 😬
The chapter 9 opening making reference to the circle where the Indians used to ride struck me as her signifying what had once been Indian territory had become homesteads. That the guys imagine torture of prisoners by Indians there reflects prevalent white fears. Cather seems to be showing us a great deal about whiteness. Clearly Jim's family is a white family one step above the Shimerada family and likely more than two steps above the Russians. And they are all above Indians in the racial hierarchy of the time and place, but it is the absence of Indians which Cather makes us aware of. Perhaps she is showing us the same thing with race she does with gender. When Jim kills the snake, his experience gets whitewashed and when Jim refers to the previous Indian residents it is another form of whitewashing.
Chapter 8 is when we learn the story of what had happened back in Russian. But Cather sets this up as a deathbed confession of sorts. The horror remains to haunt the living. And the haunting is the hunger of the wolves; always someone chasing you from behind trying to get what little you have. Krajeck to the Shimerdas. Wick to Peter and Pavel.
Chapter 6 opens with their "lessons" as though the prairie were the classroom and the subject under study is badgers. Badgers is one of those story elements that pays off in several ways as the story moves forward (badger-like sleeping conditions discovered later when they visit Shimerda; badger as potential meat to stave off hunger). And Old Hata seen in an insect who sings is another example of almost a primal connection to the place. Almost a spiritual transcendence in nature with childlike innocence. It is as if this self-reliance and individualism is revealed to be our essential human nature, like the badgers and bugs have theirs.
I take pleasure in learning how much of Peter and Pavel's story may have been drawn from real life . I am also struck by the similarities in story elements to Chekhov's "In the Cart." This story within the story then echoed when Jim takes Antonia and Yulka on a sleigh ride in the blizzard.
Yes, yes, and yes. I think you nailed it that this nostalgia is a form of forgetting; a whitewashing of sorts. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I see a critique here of what is beginning to emerge as national dominant myths about the American West and rugged individualism. Thoroughly enjoy the questions and discussion. Now to read what others have to say.
Appreciate this provocative questions. Chapter 7 and the snake shows me Josh what you hinted at last week. The way in which the story becomes larger than life. Jim is sickened by the horrific act of chopping the snake's head off. She shows us how quickly his negative reaction turns to positive feelings because of how Antonia responds to his violent act. This heady mix for young Jim Burden figuring out who he is and what is means to be a man out west. I am particularly struck by this dynamic in terms of gender. Cather shows us how females participate in the cultivation of this form of masculinity from Jim's innocent perspective. Jim is attracted to Antonia's admiration of him.
I’m amazed that wolf attack really happened! As I read, it seemed implausible, especially as reported third-hand. (I wondered if something was lost in translation.) I want to tackle some of your juicy questions but have a paper due Monday and sadly need to focus on that. I will be back in force next week. Thanks for doing this!
And did anyone else laugh out loud in Chapter 14 on this sentence: “ I looked forward to any new crisis with delight” ? It is sort of ironic how down thru the ages we all seem to hunger for drama. Having been raised in a regimented house and family I enjoyed anyone who would stop in and add some interest to our fairly predictable family life ( which I obviously took for granted).
Monet, of course!
Not sure if she ever saw Money’s Haystacks but maybe its just my trip to the fine art museum yesterday that made me feel an association with her description of the prairie grass near sunset 😬
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystacks_(Monet_series)#/media/File%3AClaude_Monet_-_Graystaks_I.JPG
The chapter 9 opening making reference to the circle where the Indians used to ride struck me as her signifying what had once been Indian territory had become homesteads. That the guys imagine torture of prisoners by Indians there reflects prevalent white fears. Cather seems to be showing us a great deal about whiteness. Clearly Jim's family is a white family one step above the Shimerada family and likely more than two steps above the Russians. And they are all above Indians in the racial hierarchy of the time and place, but it is the absence of Indians which Cather makes us aware of. Perhaps she is showing us the same thing with race she does with gender. When Jim kills the snake, his experience gets whitewashed and when Jim refers to the previous Indian residents it is another form of whitewashing.
Chapter 8 is when we learn the story of what had happened back in Russian. But Cather sets this up as a deathbed confession of sorts. The horror remains to haunt the living. And the haunting is the hunger of the wolves; always someone chasing you from behind trying to get what little you have. Krajeck to the Shimerdas. Wick to Peter and Pavel.
Chapter 6 opens with their "lessons" as though the prairie were the classroom and the subject under study is badgers. Badgers is one of those story elements that pays off in several ways as the story moves forward (badger-like sleeping conditions discovered later when they visit Shimerda; badger as potential meat to stave off hunger). And Old Hata seen in an insect who sings is another example of almost a primal connection to the place. Almost a spiritual transcendence in nature with childlike innocence. It is as if this self-reliance and individualism is revealed to be our essential human nature, like the badgers and bugs have theirs.
I take pleasure in learning how much of Peter and Pavel's story may have been drawn from real life . I am also struck by the similarities in story elements to Chekhov's "In the Cart." This story within the story then echoed when Jim takes Antonia and Yulka on a sleigh ride in the blizzard.