Discussion Questions to Consider

Our first book discussion at the library is tomorrow afternoon, April 17,starting at 2:30 p.m. Please drop in.

Here are some questions to consider:
Whose story is this novel's: Jim's or Antonia's?

Jim tells his train companion:“I didn’t have time to arrange it (his story). I simply wrote down pretty much all that her name recalls to me. I suppose it hasn’t any form." Is Jim's description accurate? What effect does Cather produce by telling her story through dramatic episodes?

What relevance does the novel have today, and what does it reveal to us about our past?

Why is Mr. Shimerda unable to adapt to his new home? Does his background and education prevent him from adapting to the harshness and solitude of Nebraska's prairie?