Beginning of Essay
The Inability to Provide for His Family, and Why it Drove Mr. Shimerda to Suicide , by Willa Cather, is a novel about Jim Burden and his relationship and experiences growing up with Antonia Shimerda in Nebraska. Throughout the book Jim reflects on his memories of ....

Middle of Essay
.... were. They looked calm, somehow, and skilled. His eyes were melancholy, and were set back deep under his brow. His face was ruggedly formed, but it looked like ashes – like something from which all the warmth and light had dried out. Everything about this old man was in keeping with his dignified manner (24) Mr. Shimerda was indeed a prosperous man in Bohemia, but had made his living in the business world, not by running a farm to provide for his family’s needs. His hands show that he rarely performed hard manual labor, but that he did work hard with his hands to weave. His face however shows signs that he was already having doubts about ....