Reinterpretation of American Dream in Willa Cather's My Antonia

Abstract

This article examines American Dream in a different viewpoint from the traditional one. Throughout My Antonia, Cather sets up the contrast between those characters who achieve American Dream of material success and those whose sense of fulfillment relies neither on fame, fortune, nor even on the competitive drive. Cather most fully explores this idea in the contrast between Antonia and Jim Burden. While My Antonia's other characters, including Jim, have progressively lost their sense of purpose, Antonia has defied all the odds and has created the thriving farm and family she always wanted. She has achieved victory over her own hard early life and the forces of nature which made an immense struggle of farm life in Nebraska. Cather seems far more cautious about associating material success with self-fulfillment. Antonia is Cather's first protagonist who is not, by the standards of her era, a material success. As a Bohemian immigrant who comes to Nebraska, she brings the traditions and values of her native country to her new corner of the world, and finally, Antonia achieves a happy balance between what Cather sees as “American” and “Old World” values. Antonia shapes a New American Dream that does not rely on material success yet celebrates the wealth of opportunity in America for each individual to achieve personal goals.