My Antonia

by

Willa Cather

An Austrian man who works on the Burden's farm, Otto's previous jobs include cowboy, stage-driver, and miner. Jim describes Otto as just having "stepped out of the pages of Jesse James." He is lively and ferocious, but good-hearted, and he looks after Jim. When the Burdens move to town, he leaves to go back to the "wild West".
Get the entire My Antonia LitChart as a printable PDF.
My Antonia PDF

Otto Fuchs Character Timeline in My Antonia

The timeline below shows where the character Otto Fuchs appears in My Antonia. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 1
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Prairie Theme Icon
Otto Fuchs, Jim's grandfather's hired man, meets the boys at the station in a wagon to... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 2
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Prairie Theme Icon
Otto tells Jim his grandparents have bought him a pony, and tells Jim he will show... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 3
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
That Sunday Otto Fuchs drives Jim and his grandmother to bring bread and provisions to the immigrant family... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 9
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Prairie Theme Icon
...bitterly cold. After the first snowfall, Jim rides to the Shimerdas' house on a sleigh Otto has built for him. He takes Ántonia and Yulka on a ride, but they become... (full context)
Friendship Theme Icon
Gender Theme Icon
...of the men from the fields each night. He admires how resilient and hardworking Jake, Otto and his grandfather are, and that they never complain. (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 11
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
...down as a present for Jim. The Burdens decorate the tree with paper doll figures Otto's mother has sent him from Austria over the years. As the narrator, Jim says the... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 12
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Past Theme Icon
On Christmas morning the Burdens eat waffles and play dominos. Otto writes a letter to his mother in Austria, but he has been gone so long... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 14
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Prairie Theme Icon
The Past Theme Icon
Innocence and Maturity Theme Icon
Gender Theme Icon
Two days after Jim's birthday, he wakes up to find his grandparents, Otto, and Jake in the kitchen, with Ambrosch asleep on a bench behind the stove. Otto... (full context)
Friendship Theme Icon
The Prairie Theme Icon
Otto goes to Black Hawk to get the priest and the coroner, and Jim's grandparents go... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 15
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The next day Otto returns from town, bringing with him a handsome young Bohemian man named Anton Jelinek. Jim... (full context)
The Immigrant Experience Theme Icon
The Past Theme Icon
Otto, once a cabinet-maker in Austria, makes a coffin for Mr. Shimerda while the men debate... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 1
Friendship Theme Icon
The Past Theme Icon
Innocence and Maturity Theme Icon
Gender Theme Icon
Rather than seeking work at another farm, Otto and Jake decide to move to the "wild West" to be silver prospectors. They leave... (full context)
Book 5, Chapter 1
Friendship Theme Icon
The Past Theme Icon
...photos of Ambrosch and Lena. Then she shows Jim one of himself, with Jake and Otto, and one of Jim just before college. That night, Jim sleeps with Ántonia's boys in... (full context)