My Antonia question #2

There are many causes, gains, and losses dealt with in the book "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. Because this is a story of their lives, there are several conflicts dealt with in this story. Some of the main ones would be Antonia's loss of her father and failed marriage, and the relationship between Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda as their lives change and are separated by life's demands. I'll start with the first conflict. The conflict of Mr.Shimerda's death happened within the first part of the book. The cause of this was because he was so homesick and unhappy in this new country and he felt that the only solution was to take his own life. He was very civilized about it and washed himself, shaved, put on clean clothes, kissed his girls goodbye before leaving forever. " 'His coat was hung on a peg, and his boots was under the bed. He'd took off that silk neck cloth he always wore, and folded it smooth and stuck his pi through it. He turned back his shirt at the neck and rolled up his sleeves' "(Cather, 61). There really was not much gained of this conflict except that the family and friends grew closer together. Obviously the loss of this conflict was Antonia's father and hero. Another conflict was when Antonia was betrayed by her husband. The cause of this was because Larry had lost his job and simply did not desire to be married to Antonia. The gain of this conflict was her first baby, which she did not tell anyone she was having. The loss of this of course was her husband. The final conflict of Jim Burden's and Antonia Shimerda's relationship is on going through out the whole book. Towards the end though, is when they really are separated. Jim goes on to succeed with his education and becomes a lawyer while Antonia had to stay at home to work and provide for her family. The cause of this was simply because of the circumstances they were in. The loss of this was that they did not get to see each other as much as they would like, but even so they gained a life-long friendship.

Cather, Willa. My Antonia. New York: Barns & Noble, 2003. Print.