My Antonia takes place mostly in the countryside in Nebraska. Many events happen because of this location. Russian Pavel is wounded working in the country, later he dies. Mr. Shimerda commits suicide because he is not used to country living and does not like it. The main characters move to Black Hawk, a nearby town to their farm, only to return to the country in end.CharactersJim Burden, the narrator of the novel, comes to Nebraska to live with his grandparents. He spends a few years on his grandparent’s farm then they move to Black Hawk. While on the farm he becomes a good friend to a Bohemian immigrant girl, Antonia Shimerda.Antonia, who is a few years older than Jim, arrives at Nebraska with her family at the same time as Jim. They grow up together as neighbors until the Burdens move to Black Hawk. Jim is unable to keep in contact with Antonia like they used too on the farm when she assumes a great deal of responsibilities after the death of her father. Eventually Antonia moves to Denver with her fianc and Jim goes off to college.PlotJim had first arrived in Nebraska at the age of ten, when he made the trip west to live with his grandparents after finding himself orphaned in Virginia. On this same train, Jim has his first glimpse of the Shimerdas, a Bohemian immigrant family traveling in the same direction.The Shimerdas took up residence in a neighboring farm to the Burdens’. Jim makes fast friends with the Shimerda children, especially Antonia who is eager to learn English. At her father’s request, Jim begins to tutor Antonia, and the two of them spend much of the autumn exploring their new landscape together.Not long after Christmas, tragedy strikes with the suicide of Mr. Shimerda. After an emotional funeral, the Shimerdas retreat into despair, and the Burdens struggle to be as accommodating as possible. Because of the hardships that the Shimerdas suffer, Antonia and Jim grow apart.A couple of yea...
