Tone of My Antonia

Tone is a very important part of any book and "My Antonia" by Willa Cather is no exception to this. This book is a novel that takes place between the 1880s and 1910 and the setting is Black Hawk, Nebraska. The perspective is of Jim Burden looking back at his life and his friendships as an adult so the tone is very narrative. Books like this that simply tell a story or their life tend to have this type of tone. Narrative is not the only tone used in "My Antonia" though. For most of the story, the tone is more sad. The reason for this is because of saddening events that occur. One of these events was the death of Antonia's father Mr.Shimerda. After moving all the way from Bohemia, Antonia and her family have a hard time adjusting to the new country. Mr.Shimerda struggled the most though and his homesickness became severe. He eventually became so unhappy that he took his own life. This was an especially tragic event because it really came out of no where. Willa used dramatic irony in this situation which really made the tone more effective. The tone was also sad and dark during the winter where farm life was always a lot more demanding. An example of this was when all the snow came and the hardships with shoveling it all and still trying to take care of the animals. "The flakes came down so thickly that from the sitting-room windows I could not see beyond the windmill- its frame looked dim and grey, unsubstantial like a shadow" (Cather, 52). One last tone used in "My Antonia" by Willa Cather is nostalgic. This is because of the fact that the perspective of this book is written from Jim looking back at the past. The entire story is kind of like one big flashback and of Jim Burden reminiscing his childhood. These tones used were very important and effected the way the reader received the book.

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