1) Do you think that Antonia's mother believes that Jim's family is selfish when she visits Jim's house for the first time because when she goes examining she states, "You got many, Shimerdas no got" (66).
2) If Mr. Shimerda acted 'normal', what would have lead to him committing suicide? (57)
3) Why do you think that Jim believes that Mr. Shimerda's soul would be in the house?(75)
4) What is you opinion in the statement, "You never really know a man, he said, until you see him dead."(89)
5) Antonia's attitude changes after the death of her father, why do you suppose this is? (Chapt. 7)
6) What is your opinion about the way Willa Carther concluded her story?
1. I don't think that Antonia's mother thought that Jim's family was selfish but rather better off than her family. If anything Mrs. Shimerda was a bit jealous of what Jim's family had since her own family didn't have these material goods.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that Mr. Shimerda committed suicide because he was greatly depressed. He was obviously hurt about leaving his country to come to America and he might have been upset about the type of lives they were living in these new lands since it was a bit of a down grade from what they were accustomed to. Plus, he had also lost two of his dear friends, the Russian guys, Peter and Pavel, which may have lead him into feeling more alone in a new enviornment that he wasn't entirely comfortable with.
3. Jim believes that Mr. Shimerda's ghost may still be lingering in his house because Mr. Shimerda had felt very at ease and peaceful that time before Christmas when he can to visit them. Instead of suffering through the long journey back to his home country, Jim believes he would have rather traveled the short distance from his death place to Jim's home to be able to finally have some rest.