It was no wonder that her sons stood
tall and straight. She was a rich mine of life, like the founders
of early races.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary: Chapter I
Some twenty years later, Jim returns to Nebraska on his
way home to New York from a business trip out west. His intention
is to see Ántonia, of whom he has heard almost nothing in the intervening period
except that she has married a fellow Bohemian named Cuzak and is
raising a large family.
When his buggy arrives at the Cuzak farm, Jim is led up
to the house by two young boys and welcomed into the kitchen by
two older girls. As he prepares to sit down, Ántonia enters the
room, but she fails to recognize him initially. Once she does, she
is thrown into a rush of emotion and calls out to gather her children
around her. Introductions are made, and Ántonia and Jim sit down
in the kitchen to discuss old times and new times.
During their conversation, one of Ántonia’s boys comes
into the house to mourn the death of his dog. Ántonia consoles him,
and the Cuzaks take Jim on a tour of their new fruit cave. Afterward,
Jim is taken through the farmhouse and then on to the orchard. Another long
talk of times gone by ensues, and Ántonia invites Jim to stay the night
with them. Jim expresses his wish to sleep in the haymow with her
sons, and Ántonia goes off to prepare supper while Jim heads out
to milk cows with the boys.
At supper the group crowds into the kitchen, and afterward everyone
settles in the parlor for some musical entertainment by the Cuzak
children. After the concert, Ántonia brings out a box of photographs,
and the children gather around as their mother leads Jim through
the pictures. Ántonia tells stories until eleven, when Jim and the
boys retire to the barn. The boys’ giggles quickly give way to slumber,
but Jim lays awake late into the night, thinking of Ántonia.
Summary: Chapter II
The next morning, Jim dresses in the barn and washes up
by the windmill, entering the kitchen to find breakfast ready. In
the afternoon, Cuzak returns with his oldest son and introduces
him to Jim. Cuzak begins to describe the details of their trip into
town, including a dance at which they encountered many of Ántonia’s
Bohemian acquaintances. Back at the house, as Ántonia serves a supper
of geese and apples, the talk turns to Black Hawk, and the story
of the violent murder-suicide involving Wick Cutter and his wife.
After the meal, Cuzak and Jim take a walk into the orchard,
and Cuzak recounts for Jim the details of his early life. Confessing
a loneliness for his old haunts in Bohemia and Vienna, Cuzak explains
that the warmth of Ántonia’s love and the energy of his large family
has kept him free from despair.
