My Antonia Essay, Research Paper

The Shimerda family has moved from their everyday pleasant lives in Bohemia, to that of the countryside in Nebraska. Faced with the many hardships an immigrant family has when moving to a foreign place, their relocation has put a damper on their everyday lives. They come to America not speaking English, this language barrier has made it difficult for the Shimerda family to make friends or ask for much needed help. The terrible Nebraska winter added to the frustrations on the family. There is not an educate food supply, nor are they able to keep warm in their cave.

Mrs. Shimerda usually seems disagreeable. She won t make the final payments on a cow they bought. She almost seems jealous of her neighbors. She had actually picked up Mrs. Burdens iron pot and complained that the Burdens have nicer things than she does. Mrs. Shimerda is a greedy woman that wants everything handed to her. It was Mrs. Shimerda that insisted on coming to American in the first place, she wanted a better life for her children. She is unwilling to do the work however, in order to make that dream come true and throws the burden on the back of her husband.

Mr. Shimerda on the other hand is not as jealous of the Burdens as his wife. He sees the Burdens as a kind family, willing to help his daughter Antonia learn to speak English. He suffers greatly due to these terrible conditions, and misses his homeland. Mr. Shimerda is embarrassed by his present living conditions is Nebraska. He had explained at one point to the Burdens, after his wife had made a fool of both herself and her family, that they were not always beggars. He had always made good wages and was a respected man in the old country. They had left Bohemia with more than three thousand dollars, and by the time they had settled in Nebraska, they had very little money left. Mr. Shimerda had a very difficult time in the New World, and one night shot himself with a shotgun.

Mr. Shimerda never had a chance to make the family s life in America a good one. Perhaps if he had not taken his life so early in the game, and stuck it out, he may have not been doomed to such an ending. If Mrs. Shimerda had not been as demanding, agreed to share the work and stress of coming to a new place, he may have not killed himself. It may be inferred that because of this tragic ending to his life, his daughter became the unruly girl she did. If Mr. Shimerda had lived, she probably wouldn t have participated in the constant escapades and gotten herself into the situations she did.

Mrs. Shimerda moved her family to America to provide a better life for her children. I put much of the blame of Mr. Shimerda s death upon her. Therefore, setting the stage for the lives her children had in America