How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Mr. Shimerda made grandmother sit down on the only chair and pointed his wife to a stool beside her. Standing before them with his hand on Ántonia's shoulder, he talked in a low tone, and his daughter translated. He wanted us to know that they were not beggars in the old country; he made good wages, and his family were respected there. (1.10.24)
Mr. Shimerda's character is distinct in that he maintains his pride with regard to social standing. This passage explains why it has been so difficult for him to move to America. We get the sense that social standing is considerably more important to him than it is to, say, Ántonia.
Quote #2
There never were such people as the Shimerdas for wanting to give away everything they had. Even the mother was always offering me things, though I knew she expected substantial presents in return. We stood there in friendly silence, while the feeble minstrel sheltered in Ántonia's hair went on with its scratchy chirp. The old man's smile, as he listened, was so full of sadness, of pity for things, that I never afterward forgot it. (1.6.14)
Jim is unconcerned with the social status of the Shimerdas for most of the early part of this novel. This may be because he is too young to start thinking about it, or because it's just not as relevant out in the farms as it is in town.
Quote #3
Next to getting warm and keeping warm, dinner and supper were the most interesting things we had to think about. Our lives centered around warmth and food and the return of the men at nightfall. (1.9.9)
Look at how different Jim's life is in the country as compared to in the town. The early parts of the novel are marked by the simplicity of the farm days, while the chapters which take place in town are made more interesting by the social complications between the farm people and the merchant families.
Quote #4
His girls never looked so pretty at the dances as they did standing by the ironing-board, or over the tubs, washing the fine pieces, their white arms and throats bare, their cheeks bright as the brightest wild roses, their gold hair moist with the steam or the heat and curling in little damp spirals about their ears. They had not learned much English, and were not so ambitious as Tony or Lena; but they were kind, simple girls and they were always happy. When one danced with them, one smelled their clean, freshly ironed clothes that had been put away with rosemary leaves from Mr. Jensen's garden. (2.12.21)
It's interesting that the traits which make the hired girls somehow "beneath" the wealthy girls are the same traits that make them more sexually attractive to the boys of the town. It's almost a "forbidden fruit" situation. Notice that these girls are described as possessing the same sort of vitality and energy that so draws Jim to Ántonia.
Quote #5
The dance at the Firemen's Hall was the one thing I looked forward to all the week. There I met the same people I used to see at the Vannis` tent. Sometimes there were Bohemians from Wilber, or German boys who came down on the afternoon freight from Bismarck. Tony and Lena and Tiny were always there, and the three Bohemian Marys, and the Danish laundry girls. (2.12.24)
The dances held at the Fireman's Hall were aimed more at the country people, whereas the dances in town were aimed at the merchant families. That's why it's socially acceptable for Jim to attend the latter, but not the former.
Quote #6
Ántonia looked eagerly about the house and admired everything. `Maybe I be the kind of girl you like better; now I come to town,` she suggested hopefully. (2.3.3)
Ántonia recognizes that her value is dependent on her social status. The social barriers in this time and place are out in the open, not buried or hidden.
Quote #7
So that was what they were like, I thought, these white-handed, high-collared clerks and bookkeepers! I used to glare at young Lovett from a distance and only wished I had some way of showing my contempt for him. (2.9.1)
Jim is critical of the boys in town for the way they treat the hired girls. But is he, too, affected by the social standing of the immigrant girls?
Quote #8
"Miss Lingard," [Mr. Ordinksy] said haughtily, "is a young woman for whom I have the utmost, the utmost respect." (3.4.21)
It's amazing how far Lena has come. Remember that, when we first heard about her, she was almost a social outcast. Cather shows that not all social barriers are insurmountable.
Quote #9
"After I'd dressed the baby, I took it out to show it to Ambrosch. He was muttering behind the stove and wouldn't look at it. "You'd better put it out in the rain-barrel," he says. (4.3.37)
While some characters are able to move past social stigma, others are perpetually worried about reputation and social status. This might be one reason Ambrosch wants the child killed – to protect his family's reputation.
Quote #10
[Cuzak] advanced to meet me and gave me a hard hand, burned red on the back and heavily coated with hair. He wore his Sunday clothes, very thick and hot for the weather, an unstarched white shirt, and a blue necktie with big white dots, like a little boy's, tied in a flowing bow. (5.2.8)
It's interesting that Ántonia ends up marrying a city man – Cuzak is definitely more enamored of city life than farm life. How does this comment on the social system we saw established when Jim and Ántonia first moved to town?