Willa Cather's Many Novels example essay topic

Willa Cather was born on December 7, 1873 in Back Creek Valley, near Gore, Virginia (Cyclopedia 367). Cather's dads name was Charles Cather. He was an average farmer. Her mothers name was Mary Virginia Book Cather. Her mother was the eldest of the couple's four children, who also included brothers Roscoe and Douglass and a second Daughter, Jessica (Magill's Survey 343). Cather was a very avid reader.

Since she was moving constantly until the age of about nine, she did not stay in any one school for long. When she turned sixteen she went off to the University of Nebraska. She quickly established herself as one of its brightest and most individualistic students there (Magill's Survey 345). Cather had many influences. Many of her novels are related to prairie life. The reason why she wrote most of her novels on prairie life is because that is where she grew up.

She also got many of her influences from the people she met while on her journeys across the prairie (Magill's Survey 343). Cather stayed in the career of writing throughout her life. She had many different jobs as a writer before she became her own writer. Since she established herself as a writer in college, she was offered many jobs. One of the first that she had was that she had published two articles in the Nebraska State Journal, to which she began contributing a regular column during her junior year in college.

She then graduated and moved to Pittsburgh, where she stayed for the next ten years and wrote articles for Home Magazine (Magell's Survey 345). Cather was given many awards for all of her different writings. Her best award was a Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel "One of Ours". There were many other awards. One of Willa Cather's many novels is "My Antonia". This novel was published in 1918.

Cather portrays Antonia through the telling of her life experiences. Her life is seen and portrayed through the watchful eyes of Jim Burden. Willa Cather illuminates the theme of the American dream through conflict, characterization, and setting. The theme of the American dream is portrayed through conflict. Antonia is forced to grow up on a farm with her family. Growing up on a farm means having to work all the time.

"Antonia and her family struggle to establish themselves on the Nebraska plain". (20th-Century 553). At first Antonia and her family are faced with great deprivation. They live in a dugout house for a few years. The Nebraskan winters get cold and they barely make it through the winter months.

Therefore she has to work in order to support her family. She starts in the fields sharing the back-breaking work with her family. When she becomes a little older she becomes a hired girl. This is all to support her family. All of this work forced her to forgo any serious thought of study (Magill's Survey 347). This severely set her back on getting to the American dream.

Jim burden develops maturity through conflict. Like Antonia, Jim to is raised on a farm and has to endure the backbreaking work also. Unlike Antonia, Jim's family is already established. Therefore Jim does not have to work quiet so hard and has the time to go to school.

Going to school enables him to get to the American dream faster than Antonia. He is still faced with leaving his hometown to go to college "Jim, goes away to college to study the classics" (20-th Century 553). This move is hard for him because he does not want to leave the simple life that he has known for so long. After college he becomes a lawyer for the railroad.

Even through he reaches this success, he still becomes home sick and comes back to Red Cloud. He returns to find Antonia aged but still happy. She has found the American dream (20-th Century 553). Conflict is portrayed again though Antonia with her illegitimate child "And her trusting in nature leads her into trouble in the form of an illegitimate child" (Magill's Survey 347). The father of this child abandons her and her new baby. This also severely sets her back from getting to the American dream.

She not only has to take care of herself, but now she has to raise her knew born child as well. She eventually finds a husband, which makes this task much easier.