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Book 2, Chapter 4
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
Jim sees Lena often downtown. She says she is thrilled to live in town, and tells him about her friend Tiny Soderball, who works at the Boys' Home hotel as a waitress. One afternoon in December, Jim sees Lena helping her little brother buy Christmas gifts for their family. After her brother leaves, Lena cries a little and tells Jim she still gets homesick sometimes.
Although she has embraced town life, even the fiery and independent Lena shows a nostalgia for her childhood on the prairie.
Themes
