Struggle with the Earth in My Antonia In Willa Cather's novel My Antonia, one of the main themes addressed is the struggle with the earth. In this essay I will discuss this theme in relation to the text, the characters, the events they face, and the setting. The text is largely influenced by this theme of man's relationship with the earth. Cather describes the land where the Shimerda and Burden lived as beautiful: the slow rolling hill covered in a sea of ​​red grass, the circle of open sky above and the earth below. But Cather also describes the earth as something powerful, a force strong enough to break even the strongest man. The land also plays an important role in the lives of the main characters and, in many cases, determines the type of events they will face. . Antonia and her family are new to America: new to the land, new to the language, new to the customs, and new to farming. From the beginning of the novel, Antonia and her family have struggled with the land. At first they didn't know how to farm, but they slowly learned with the help of the Burden family. Once they learned the basics of farming, Antonia and her brother had to start and maintain the farm themselves. It wasn't just the Shimerda who faced the earth head-to-head every day. The Burden also fought the same battle. But because the Burden had greater knowledge of the land and its cultivation, their battle was more easily won. For example, while Antonia and her older brother went out and plowed the fields every day, the Burdens could do other things with the land, since they had already established the fields in which to plant things. In a certain sense, this theme of man's life and relationship with the earth is the setting. The land in which the story takes place determined many of the events that occurred: if the land had not been so harsh and brutal, Mr. Shimerda perhaps would not have lost hope as he did..