My Antonia : 시련과 재생의 Pattern = A Pattern of Frustration and Rebirth in My Antonia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The objective of this paper is to present the mythic patterns on which Willa Lather's My A＾ntonia is based, and to look at some of the ordeals and frustrations experienced by A＾ntonia, the heroine, and finally to examine her rebirth, her attaining of self-realization.
Lather makes use of mythic patterns in her novels, that is, she selects mythic archetypes whose experiences parallel the experiences of the central characters. This technique enables her to create strong, clear themes with obvious parallels in ancient mythologies. In this respect, the mythic patterns of this book reflect both the story of Persephone in the Greek myth and the story of Ruth in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament.
After arriving in the Nebraska plains from her native country, Bohemia, ntonia experiences tremendous hardships and sufferings as a farmer, and as an unmarried mother of a child born out of wedlock after her lover deserted her.
Eventually, she realizes that she is meant to farm on the Nebraska plains-an important act of self-discovery. Struggling hard to tame the wild land, she and her husband, Cuzak, acquire, in the end, a great deal of wealth and land as well as a dozen healthy children.
Unlike the naturalistic writers, Lather shows that the inherent will of an individual is capable of overcoming a miserable environment, and that human beings will, through their determination and efforts, realize their long-cherished dreams. Lather's firm belief in man's essential dignity and his ability to fully improve his lot, seems to derive in great part from Christian beliefs she had maintained throughout her long life.