My Antonia THE AMERICIAN DREAM
In the novel, My Antonia, by Willa Cather, everyone seems to be trying to pursue the American Dream. While they all have different ideas of just exactly what the American Dream is, they all know precisely what they want. For some, the American Dream sounds so enticing that they have traveled across the world to achieve their goal. They work hard to fit in and succeed, but, as in the case of Mr. Shimerda, are not always successful. One girl who was chasing the American Dream was Lena Lingard, a small farm girl from a poverty-stricken family. Lena had one thing on her mind: money. To her the American Dream was wealth. She wanted freedom from worry about where her next meal would come from, or how she would pay for a new dress. Lena began her journey to wealth by becoming one of the many hired girls in the town of Black Hawk. There she was apprentice to a dressmaker and before long began to show great potential. She soon began making money with her newfound talent, and used this money not to help herself, but to benefit her family. Lena spent her free time buying clothes for them, and paid some of their bills. She also went to many dances over th
After a while she moved to San Francisco and did even better. At first he was open minded about starting a new life in America, but soon he grew homesick and tired of farming. Shimerda shot himself to end the pain of not being able to be close to the things he loved. With this in mind, she asked for the help of Jim Burden, her closest neighbor. The Shimerdas came all the way from Bohemia and gambled everything they had to make it in America. She did not let the stereotype of the hired girls get in her way of the American Dream. It all just kept building up inside of him and one day the burden got to be too much to carry. In any case, dreams are very important to people, whether they be the American Dream, or a new bike. They will travel great distances or change their whole lifestyles to succeed. She helped out with all of the farm work and did an excellent job. Antonia, the oldest daughter, knew that to succeed in raising her very own family she needed to learn the customs of this new country. Every day she learned a little bit more from him. She worked in Black Hawk for a respectable family that taught her everything she needed to know about raising a good family. Antonia's American Dream of having her own beautiful family had finally come true.
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