In life, it is the interaction with the people around us that ultimately defines ourselves. In the novel My Antonia, the author Willa Cather explores this idea and the affects that two characters have on one another. The novel describes a young boy named Jim who meets a vibrant girl named Antonia. Through the experiences of these characters, Willa Cather emphasizes the theme that Antonia serves as Jim's counterpart.
             Throughout the novel, Antonia represents an alternative to Jim's regular life. In the beginning, Antonia and Jim become acquainted as they both live on farms. However within the first chapters the two characters come to a crossroad. Antonia takes one path and Jim the other and as the novel progresses the differences between the two become strikingly clear. Although both Jim and Antonia live on a farm, the word means something different for each of them. Antonia's family clearly struggles to make ends meet while Jim and his grandparents always have food on the table. As her father dies, Antonia continues to face obstacles in her path. Jim on the other hand does not meet any of these hardships. Although he is taken aback by the death of Antonia's father, the mourning of a family member cannot be truly felt by others. After her father's death Antonia is forced to work on the farm to support her family while Jim moves to town and enrolls in school. As their friendship continues, their paths continue to separate more and more. Antonia eventually becomes a "hired girl" and moves to the city. Jim enjoys the hired girls much more than any of the other townsfolk and claims they are "real women." However, Antonia and Jim are on different paths that lead in different directions. Jim eventually leaves the town and attends college while Antonia remains in Black Hawk. The two characters are so close and yet on completely different paths in life. For Jim
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