Though Jim Burden’s childhood and personality were shaped and influenced by many people in his life, the single person who had the most profound effect on him was Ántonia Shimerda. In this passage it becomes extremely evident how Jim, as an adult, longs for his childhood and the meaningful years he spent with Ántonia. Although this is never explicitly stated, Willa Cather delivers this message through her bitter-sweet diction, metaphorical description of the setting, and the tone adopted when Jim thinks of his memories with Ántonia.
Cather’s word choice creates a sense of longing for the past and insinuates an overall passage of time. This begins nearly at the beginning of the passage. Instead of referring to Ántonia by name, Cather insteads …show more content…
Jim speaks of her with such fondness, her meaning to him is too obvious, “Ántonias had always been one to leave images in the mind that did not fade.” The tone Cather uses here is extremely meaningful. It causes the reader to feel that Ántonia means a great deal to Jim. She’s not just some girl. It’s a very loving and wholesome tone, one that invokes great importance. This is how Cather conveys just how important Ántonia is to Jim. Another time this happens is at the end of the passage “She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.” Everything about this sentence is just overflowing with richness. Cather’s tone is so warm and inviting, it forces the reader to come to the conclusion that Jim is longing for something that he once had; A childhood in which Ántonia was a large part of. And now it’s 20 years later and it becomes just how apparent things have a changed. Cather is truly extraordinary at conveying these meanings through her seemingly simple tone.
Cather has used tone, longing diction, and the description of the setting to convey an overall message. On the Cuzak’s farm, 20 years after Jim had last seen Ántonia, Jim longs for what once was. Seeing Ántonia with all of her children has left him longing for his own childhood in which Ántonia played a crucial role. It was never explicitly stated, but Cather’s message was loud and clear through her use of these rhetorical