Life and Light in Cather's Nebraska

By Lorie Castro

Imagine bumping and jolting along in a dusty wagon; all around is nothing but red, copper colored prairie grass that danced in the wind under endless blue skies. There were no trees, no homes, and no real roads. To some, this is an earthen prison, a dark place impenetrable to music and laughter. To others, it is a land rich in opportunity and rewards. Where could such a place be found? In the midwestern state of Nebraska. A land of extremes, Nebraska hosts frigid winters and golden summer sunsets. It is an unforgiving landscape that will give, and take. The book, “My Antonia,” by Willa Cather, uses symbolism and imagery to describe the setting of the harsh Nebraska environment that broke Mr. Shimerna and helped forge strong female characters. 

The Nebraska landscape is harsh and unforgiving. Cather uses strong imagery to help define the extremes of Nebraska. With her words, she painted pictures of the dangerous and alluring landscape. Readers feel the bite of the bitter winter storms and feel the Nebraska dirt caked on their brow. Cather’s imagery shows the reader how big, endless, and dangerous Nebraska was in the 1880’s. Cather wrote about Nebraska in such a way that it was as if the land itself was its own character. The environment that Willa Cather created, “does indeed have a human face. It appears as if it were a character in these novels, interacting with human characters and changing their lives” (Meeker 87). Like any character with depth, Nebraska was a land of contrasting extremes. These contrasting elements on the prairie make it both “grotesque,” and the “Promised Land flowing with milk and honey” (Kleiman 1). Cather wrote of both, and both were bountiful. 

  Characters Jim Burden and the Bohemian Shimerda family moved to Nebraska. They were surprised by what they saw. Cather wrote with beautiful imagery that, “The grass was the country, as the water is the sea…And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running” (Avilez D-45). The endless miles of vast prairie were to become their new home. Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda would come to love the land. The prairie was home to,  “ever-changing tapestry of native grasses, flowers, and forbs” (“Willa). Cather wrote of the flora, “As far as we could see, the miles of copper-red grass were drenched in sunlight that was stronger and fiercer than at any other time of the day. The blond cornfields were red gold, the haystacks turned rosy and threw long shadows. The whole prairie was like the bush that burned with fire and was not consumed” (D-54). Cather wrote repeatedly of the red prairie grass. It was abundant and tall, “Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but rough, shaggy, red grass, most of it as tall as I” (D-44). Cather, using imagery, wanted the reader to envision the grass for all its radiance. She compared it to the color of wine, “the red of the grass made all the great prairie the color of wine-stains” (D-45). This description further adds to the imagery of the size, color, and magnificence of the prairie around them. 

In Nebraska, beautiful sunflowers lined the roads; leaving Jim with a permanent impression that sunflower lined roads were like a “road to freedom” (D-50). There were not only sunflowers blooming on the prairie, other flowers bloomed as well, creating a peaceful landscape for both fauna and humans alike. Cather even uses imagery when describing the wind, saying it, “blew about us in warm, sweet gusts” (D-86). The imagery that Cather used to describe Nebraska is so lovely, she could be describing a painting. Cather wrote, “The buffalo-peas were blooming in pink and purple masses along the roadside, and the larks, perched on last year’s dried sunflower stalks, were singing straight at the sun, their heads thrown back and their yellow breasts a-quiver” (D-86). It is truly a vision of magnificence. Yet, in a land of extremes, the grotesque can also be found. 

There were snakes, large enough that Jim considered one in particular a “circus monstrosity” (D-56). Jim picked up his spade and, “pounded his ugly head flat,” until the snake was dead. It was a violent, but necessary, act of survival in a rugged landscape. The Shimerda’s home was as grotesque as anything. It was a dugout hole in the earth with a skeletal windmill that had no wheel. The dugout “house,” was dug deeply into the earth with only a door and a simple window. It was thatched with grass, covered in roots, and partially crumbling away. Inside it was dark, and the air was stifling hot (D-67). Jim’s grandmother had said it was, “no better than a badger hole” (D-47). In the rear of the dugout was another small cavity where Antonia and her sister slept, “a round hole, not much bigger than an oil barrel, scooped out in the black earth” (D-67). Historically, dugouts were miniscule, small, cramped spaces; they were usually no bigger than ten square feet (“Searching”). It was an uncomfortable, if not a primitive way to live. 

Deadly snakes and dugouts were not the only grotesque images to be found on the prairie. The first winter snowfall started off as pleasing as a postcard, “the low sky was like a sheet of metal; the blond cornfields had faded out into ghostliness at last; the little pond was frozen under its stiff willow bushes. Big white flakes were whirling over everything and disappearing in the red grass” (D-62). However, the winter storm went from picturesque to a living nightmare quickly. Cather wrote with amazing imagery about the winter storm. She wrote, “The snow did not fall this time, it simply fell out of heaven, like thousands of feather-beds being emptied” (D-73). That winter, what started as a glorious snowfall, turned into a frozen hell. The snow transformed the landscape into a dangerous and deadly place, and they feared their animals might freeze to death. The snow had gotten so deep that it was difficult to get to the barn to take care of the animals. Cather wrote, “Our men had to shovel until noon to reach the barn-and the snow was still falling” (D-73). It was difficult to breathe, as the cold stung and burned their noses and throats (D-63). The dugout was so cold that the Shimerda’s vegetables froze, leaving them hungry. The winter was ruthless and tormenting. Cather personified the wind when she wrote, “Outside I could hear the wind singing over hundreds of miles of snow “(D-77). With such vivid imagery, it is not difficult to imagine the  brutal winter storm Cather described. 

The extreme Nebraska winter was harsh and unforgiving. In her book, Cather used imagery to describe both the grotesque and the beautiful in such a way that the reader could feel, see, and hear Nebraska, just as the characters from the book could. She used different literary devices to achieve this. 

There is symbolism in the book, “My Antonia.” This symbolism helps the reader to understand the characters and Nebraska itself. It gives deeper meaning and depth to the story. Young Jim and Antonia’s family had traveled to Nebraska under different circumstances. In this story, the state of Nebraska is symbolic for new beginnings, hope, and opportunities. It symbolizes a blank canvas waiting to be painted. For an immigrant family, especially, Nebraska is an opportunity to start over; a chance to paint their own picture of success and happiness. According to Antonia, the reason for the Shimerda’s to travel to Nebraska was, “Ambrosch be rich…He is very smart boy. For Ambrosch my mama come here” (D-72). The opportunity for Antonia’s brother Ambrosch to become rich was the reason they came to Nebraska. Opportunities such as these were the reason many immigrants came, traveled across the ocean and ventured out west. Nebraska offered milk and honey. 

The plow in this story is a symbol. In the book, the imagery of the plow scene is memorable. One author refers to the plow scene as, “one of these brilliant images that stand in the heart of her book” (Miller 113). The plow is a symbol of man's connection to the land, progress, and hard work. Cather writes: 

...There were no clouds, the sun was going down in a limpid, gold-washed sky. Just as the lower edge of the red disc rested on the high fields against the horizon, a great black figure suddenly appeared on the face of the sun…a plough had been left standing in the field. The sun was sinking just behind it. Magnified across the distance by the horizontal light, it stood out against the sun, was exactly contained within the circle of the disc; the handles, the tongue, the share—black against the molten red. There it was, heroic in size, a picture writing on the sun (D-128). 

The plow is the “heroic” representation of farming. Working the land was the key to living the life of milk and honey. The plow was the most important piece of equipment a settler could have. Cather leaves the reader with an image that is lingering. The ever humble plow, offset against the sinking sun, symbolizes the hard work, sweat, tears, death, dreams, and hope of so many in Nebraska. The symbolism of the plow connects the people to the land in a most memorable way. 

Another prominent symbol in this book is light. It symbolizes life and vitality. It symbolized happiness. Cather uses light many times in her story. For example, Antonia and Jim were, “very happy, through the magical light of the late afternoon” (D-54). Light equals happiness in this passage. In another line, Antonia’s eyes were described as, “...big and warm and full of light, like the sun shining on brown pools in the wood” (D-48). The light, again, symbolizes happiness, life, and vitality. In the city, Jim often sees lights, in the bleakest of weather, that symbolize life. He sees the lights shining through the windows of the Methodist church. When the street lamps were lit, people gathered beneath to sing and talk beneath them. Lighted houses, from the sidewalk, showed signs of life and laughter, and the smells of cooking. To Jim, these lights were symbolic of the spark of life, and he admits, “lights…drew me” (D-102). Cather used the symbolism of light to show life, vitality, and happiness. However, the absence of light is also present in her novel. 

Mr. Shimerda is notedly without light. Cather wrote how Mr. Shimerda’s eyes were different, “His eyes were melancholy, and were set back deep under his brow. His face was ruggedly formed, but it looked like ashes—like something from which all the warmth and light had died out” (D-48). The absence of light in Mr. Shimerda’s eyes is symbolic of death. There is also foreshadowing in this line as Mr. Shimerda, who has no light, life, vitality, or happiness in his eyes, will indeed die. Cather uses light, or lack of light, to warn the reader of his impending death; Mr. Shimerda later died by suicide.

This harsh Nebraska landscape was more than Mr. Shimerda could endure. His piece of land was rough and not well suited to farming. The dugout house he moved his family into was dark, leaky, cold, and Antonia described it as, “House no good, house no good!” (D-47). Even the dugout itself symbolized how they were forced to live like animals. Mr. Shimerda, who had been an avid musician, became depressed and no longer played his violin. Music had been his passion in the old country, his spark, but it was snuffed out by the severe environment and the everyday challenges that continued to mount. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda were always suffering from a shortage of food, necessities, and happiness. The family was cold, they had, “...but one overcoat among ’em over there, and they take turns wearing it” (D-65).  The family had become so hungry that they began eating prairie dogs; other settlers considered this no better than eating rats. Mr. Shimerda had begun to feel overwhelmed by the hardships of the west. The Burden family noticed one Christmas evening that, “the old man had come to believe that peace and order had vanished from the earth, or existed only in the old world he had left so far behind” (D-71). Nebraska was indeed raw and wild. Mr. Shimerda had left Bohemia, at the sacrifice of his own happiness, to give opportunities to his children. The weather, the crowded dugout, and the longing for home was more than he could bear, and he chose to end his life. The harsh Nebraska landscape broke Mr. Shimerda.

Nebraska forged strong female characters, however. Cather's female characters defy traditional gender roles as well. Antonia, Lena, and Grandmother all settled in Nebraska. There, they were put to the test. Adaptation, intelligence, and a strong work ethic were key elements needed to survive and thrive. The Nebraska landscape both tested and forged them into strong, memorable, untraditional female characters.

Jim’s grandmother is the first strong woman introduced in the book, “My Antonia.” Grandmother was an intelligent, hard-working woman who was strong in faith and tenacity. Although aging, Jim’s Grandmother was strong. Living in Nebraska, she was forced to throw some formalities aside. She was seasoned to working on a rural farm and acclimated to the dangers around her. Grandmother was, “old, a strong woman, of unusual endurance” (D-43). Her skin was leathered, “wrinkled brown” (D-42). She had even killed rattlers in her garden. She looked out for others, besides Jim. She worried about the Christian morals of her farm hands when they moved out, reminding them to stay true to their Christian values. She was assertive when she needed to be. At the death of Mr. Shimerda, Grandmother stepped in to scold Mrs. Shimerda and spoke on behalf of Yulka who did not wish to see the coffin of her father, saying, “I won’t stand by and see that child frightened into spasms…Let her alone” (D-81). Lastly, since Antonia’s mother wasn’t, Grandmother was instrumental in getting her out of the fields doing manual labor, where she was picking up masculine and unladylike habits, and into her home where she could reteach her more womanly and refined skills. Her recognition of this helped direct Antonia’s life on a more respectable track. Grandmother later helped Antonia find work as a hired girl.

Lena Lingard is another strong female character. She started off as an immigrant girl who helped her family herd cattle. She could be found, “in the open country…we saw her out among her cattle, bareheaded and barefooted, scantily dressed in tattered clothing, always knitting as she watched her herd” (143). Her work ethic went with her from the fields to town as a hired girl. Lena was often the cause of scandal because her sensuality naturally attracted male attention. She was very non-traditional, refusing to marry and have kids after seeing how they tied a woman down. She went from babysitting her siblings to a busy dressmaker. Even Jim said, “Certainly she had no one but herself to thank for it” (D-136). After living in poverty on the prairie, Lena wanted the good things the city life could offer her. She wanted fine clothes, such as silk, and had no desire to wear tattered clothing again. She loved the theatre so much that she said, “I’d be willing to work like a slave, it seems to me, to live in a place where there are theaters” (D-136). Lena was an independent woman, who wanted more than she grew up with. She crossed social and cultural boundaries that were put in place for immigrants. She used the hard-knocks life experiences she received growing up in Nebraska to catapult her to success as an owner of a dress shop in San Francisco. She worked hard to achieve the American dream, working her way up to a comfortable middle-class station, neither “too shabby or rich” (D-156). 

Antonia’s dream was simpler than Lena’s, but no less worthy. In a way, Antonia is a metaphor for the American dream. One author argued that, “if Ántonia becomes a metaphor for America, she also embodied the country’s violence. By the end of the narrative Cather’s protagonist is ‘worked down’” (Vives-Martinez  186). In other words, by working her way to farm ownership, she was beaten down in her efforts, left toothless, haggard, poor, and with numerous children to care for. This is not entirely true, though. Antonia had developed a unique love of farm life, the environment, children, and animals. The land was her true calling, despite how hard the work was. So many times readers see Antonia’s ability to overcome obstacles, nurture the land, children, creatures, and her relentless determination to achieve what she loved in life. Later, when she was old, she was proud of her farm, her orchard, and what she had created in Nebraska. Antonia had indeed worked like a man, “I saw her come up the furrow, shouting to her beasts, sunburned, sweaty, her dress open at the neck, and her throat and chest dust-plastered…” (D-110). Yet, when Jim goes to see Antonia at the end of the book, fearing he might find her beaten, he merely finds an aged version of the same memorable woman Jim had always admired and loved. Consequently, he found her rich in the things that matter. She had numerous children, she had retained her Bohemian culture and even taught her children the language, had several different orchards that rivaled all others, and owned many farm animals. These were things that Antonia valued more than anything. 

Antonia herself said, “I belong on a farm” (D-291). Cather often portrayed Antonia as one with the land. Through her years of labor, she had become one with the land. Cather wrote of Antonia repeatedly being described as brown, “the color that dominates…had affinities with the land itself, bringing to mind the rich hue of the fertile soil…” (Piacentino 40) Antonia was described as having, “fine brown legs and arms, and splendid color in her cheeks—like those big dark red plums” (D-95). Throughout the book, she found happiness in the land, and Cather’s choice of figurative language to describe it reinforces her connection with Nebraska. In this book, Antonia becomes “a sort of symbol; her triumph over the land turns her into a sort of earth-goddess” (Vives-Martinez 185). Her knack and zests for life, farming, and her love of the land shines throughout the book. Jim said, “She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last” (D-165). Antonia painted Nebraska her own way.

Willa Cather’s own personal experience had a huge influence on her writing. Willa Cather was born in 1873 and died in 1957. She grew up in an era when conservation of the land and creation of National Parks was at the forefront. President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir pushed for parks and conservation, as well as wrote fervently about the importance of the land. One author argued that Cather used the land merely as her muse in “My Antonia,” and suggested that she “may have loved her prairie home, but her love was not strong enough to live with it and learn its natural history” (Meeker 88). This same author goes on to argue that the land is merely a background for her story, “where the plow and pen come together” (Meeker 88). While the prairie was indeed the backdrop of her story, it is also an afflatus and great love of Cather’s. She understands the nuances of the prairie, and she brings it to life in her story. To Cather, the land was more than a backdrop, it was an inspiration. One cannot diminish the fact that her inspiration, the Nebraska prairie, was written into lasting memory to her readers. Cather's descriptions of Nebraska have transported many back in time where they too found inspiration in the red prairie grass. Her stories about frontier life on the prairie have, well deservedly, propelled her forward as one of the country's greatest writers.

Still, Cather was often an outlier among society. When she was young, she cut her hair like a boy, called herself “Willie,” and wore more masculine clothing at a time when people noticed such differences. She did not stick to traditional gender roles in life or in “My Antonia.” Cather was most certainly a feminist, and it shows in her novels. She did not marry, and some scholars speculate she was in a lesbian relationship. Her life has many similarities to her character, Jim Burden. Like Jim, she was born in Virginia and moved to Nebraska where she lived near Bohemian, Swedish, and German immigrants. In a 1913 interview she said she had been, “... jerked away… and thrown out into a country as bare as a piece of sheet iron” (“Willa”). This description nearly perfectly parallels a line from “My Antonia.” 

In Nebraska, Cather was able to “meet and gather information from immigrants and other pioneers who spoke different languages and engaged in other cultural practices” (“Willa”). Cather used her memorable experiences in Nebraska as material for her books. The character Antonia resembles a “real” hired girl whose father committed suicide. While Cather lived in Nebraska, the immigrants were a curious, yet fascinating, inspiration to her. Cather absorbed the environment and the people around her. She drew on these youthful memories when she wrote “My Antonia.” 

Nebraska, a land of extremes, was described vividly by author Willa Cather in her book, “My Antonia,” through imagery and symbolism. Cather highlighted not only the landscape, but also how Antonia, Lena, and Grandmother thrived in it. Adaptation, intelligence, and a strong work ethic were key elements needed to survive in the harsh environment. Mr. Shimerda was not equipped with the ability to adapt like the women were, and it overtook him. With this book Cather writes a “commentary on the American experience, American dream, and American reality” (Miller 112). The book, “My Antonia,” by Willa Cather, uses symbolism and imagery to describe the setting of the harsh Nebraska environment that broke Mr. Shimerna and helped forge strong female characters. Through her skilled use of imagery and symbolism, she introduces new generations to life on the prairie, the hardships, personal struggles, but most importantly how to thrive. 

Copyright © 2025 by Lorie D. Castro

All Rights Reserved

Works Cited

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