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Book 1, Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Antonia, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Immigrant Experience
Friendship
The Prairie
The Past
Innocence and Maturity
Gender
Summary
Analysis
When school is out in midsummer, Jim and Ántonia spend more time together. One night Jim and Ántonia climb to the roof to watch a distant lightning storm. As they watch, Jim asks Ántonia why she can't be "nice" all the time and instead tries so hard to be like Ambrosch. Ántonia responds that things will never be as easy for her or her family as they are for Jim and his family.
