Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
The Nebraska Landscape
The most important and universal symbol in My
Ántonia is the Nebraska landscape. Cather’s poetic and
moving depiction of it is perhaps the most famous and highly praised
aspect of the novel. The landscape symbolizes the larger idea of
a human environment, a setting in which a person lives and moves.
Jim’s relationship with the Nebraska landscape is important on its
own terms, but it also comes to symbolize a great deal about Jim’s
relationship with the people and culture of Nebraska, as well as
with his inner self. Throughout the novel, the landscape mirrors
Jim’s feelings—it looks desolate when he is lonely, for instance—and
also awakens feelings within him. Finally, the landscape becomes
the novel’s most tangible symbol of the vanished past, as Jim, the
lawyer in distant New York, thinks back longingly on the landscape
of his childhood.
The Plow
The plow, which Jim and Ántonia see silhouetted against
the enormous setting sun, symbolizes the connection between human
culture and the natural landscape. As the sun sets behind the plow,
the two elements are combined in a single image of perfect harmony, suggesting
that man and nature also coexist harmoniously. But as the sun sinks
lower on the horizon, the plow seems to grow smaller and smaller,
ultimately reflecting the dominance of the landscape over those
who inhabit it.
