The Theme Of Initiation In My Antonia

My Antonia, a masterpiece of the distinguished American modern female writer Willa Cather, is an initiation story. Initiation is an everlasting literary theme in western literature as well as a universal cultural phenomenon which reflects the individual's important maturing experience. The initiation story, or Bildungsroman, is a story whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a youthful character. My Antonia vividly describes the Bohemian immigrant girl Antonia Shimerda's persistent struggle and pursuit, presenting her unique emotional and social experience as well as views on life. It reflects her journey of spiritual and psychological initiation into maturity. The novel praises highly of the unyielding spirit, everlasting passion and positive attitudes towards life of early American pioneers represented by Antonia.Since the publication of My Antonia in 1918, abundant criticism has appeared concerning the novel's themes, plot, characters, and techniques. Up till now, however, no systematic investigation has been made into the theme of initiation in terms of the initiation story. This thesis, studies the novel as an initiation story and attempts to explore its initiation theme from the following aspects: Antonia's maturing processes of her emotion, her female consciousness and her belief. Through analyzing the typical image of a female immigrant and the confusion and struggle she experiences in the journey of growing up, this thesis also discusses the conflicts immigrant women face and the way they choose to solve them when they quest for survival and for spiritual growth in a male dominanted society.This thesis mainly consists of four chapters. Chapter One first introduces the initiation theory in literature, then it points out the initiation is the central theme of My Antonia, and it finally discusses Cather's personal experience of initiation and its influence on this novel. Chapter Two focuses on the maturing process of Antonia's emotion, including her views on friendship and love. Chapter Three analyzes the growth of Antonia's female consciousness concerning her development as a woman and her economic and spiritual independence. Chapter Four discusses the development of Antonia's belief under the joint influence of the pioneering spirit, the Christian tradition and the Bohemian culture in the immigrant community. Conclusion restates the main idea of the thesis. Furthermore, it points out that the study of Antonia's special initiation processes can serve as a window through which we can see and then study the modern initiation stories in the present multi-cultural world.