An important part of any novel is the character development of any number of the main protagonists. In My Antonia, we see a number of characters develop over the course of the novel but I found a passage in which I would like to analyze in order to truly understand the character of Jim Burden. Prior to this passage we are shown Jim as a passive character, never truly molding to the quintessential male gender, characterized by aggressiveness and the ability to face difficult or uncomfortable situations head on. In fact, there are times in the novel where Jim figuratively and literally runs away from his problems and tends to reject the traditional job of working outside among the other men. Instead, we are introduced to a more feminine male character who stays indoors and works on his studies. The passage I chose begins with a few female characters, Lena, Tiny, Antonia, and Anna, discussing the fact that there was a declaration by Jim’s grandmother that Jim was expected become a preacher. In a patriarchal based society, women weren’t in charge of picking careers for men, but once again, Jim doesn’t exactly fit the mold of the typical masculine character. He responds to this accusation by narrating “I told her I didn’t know what they believed and didn’t care, and that I certainly wasn’t going to be a preacher.” (Page 228)
This is a pivotal point in the development of Jim’s character as it shows a break in his passivity toward the life that was inevitably expected of him. Here, Jim is beginning to embody the typical decisive male character but only to a small extent. Once again, Tiny chimes in and assign roles to him saying that “maybe [he’d] like to be a professor,” (Page 228) or how Antonia “has [her] heart on him being a doctor” (Page 228), yet he rejected those ideas. Jim’s characteristic passivity was overshadowed by his declaration that “[he] would be whatever [he] pleased,” (Page 228). Though there are many times when My Antonia defeats the traditional gender roles in society with Jim’s character, we see him fall into the stereotypical male figure through this passage, if only a little.
Let’s break down his language a little here. In the first sentence I used, Jim chooses an aggressive word like “certainly” and negative words like “didn’t” and “wasn’t”. These words are undeniably active and decisive, which opposes his natural attitude. The next example follows suit a bit by using the word “whatever” which also has a negative connotation, yet it seems a little less certain. The next statement narrated to us by Jim also seems to give up a little of that decisive power by using positively connoted words such as “would” and “pleased”, almost as if that passivity is presenting once again.
Though Jim seems to be breaking that trend of passivity and molding more into what it meant to be a masculine figure during this time, his indecisive character is still prominent during this passage.
What I find most interesting about this passage–and it relates to the passivity / masculinity tension–is that the “hired girls” first place him in a role that forces him to be a passive witness to their marriages and their births. Jim, that is, isn’t cast here as a viable mate, even as he longs to be taken seriously. The other professions–professor, doctor–are similar: roles that are more paternal in a way. Jim, it seems is either too young or tool old. He’s just not a part of their orbit in a way he might like. I appreciate your attention to the way that decisiveness and indecisiveness meet in this exchange: he’s clearly wanting to put down his foot, but if falls rather flat as he folds back on those conditionals. I also like how that ‘narrating’ jim of the future steps in to end this scene by re-affirming his potential manliness (“Won’t you be surprised, Miss Tiny, if I turn out to be a regular devil of a fellow”) as the Principal walks in–though even there, casting that manliness as “sly” and “queer” sort of frames it in a strange light. His attraction to these girls–and his obsession with folk-ways and some elemental humanity apart from all the refinements of city and culture–is certainly something we should talk about. I think it’s less about his mature attraction to older women than it is about his naive attraction to that which he finds sexually exotic.