My Antonia essays

My Antonia essays After good experiences pass by, it is natural for a human to feel as if though the pleasure from spending that time should have lasted longer. In the same way, Optima dies... prima fugit, is true for the life of Jim Burden also. Experiencing many of his good child hood times in the country, and thereafter being far away from there in Lincoln for college makes him feel that the jovial moments went by very quickly. Visiting familiar places where Jim spent good times produces memories of childhood delight. Jim Burdens mentality of reminiscing past events and dwelling upon them in deeper thought lends him to feel like the first days are the first to flee. Jim Burden is keen to reflect upon memorable moments of his past because of his poetic and pensive disposition. Jim often thinks of the prairies vividness when he describes the ocean of copper-red prairie grass, golden sunflower bordered roads, and the fierce sunlight drenching the blonde cornfields. His strong feelings are manifested for the prairies beauty when he says, The whole prairie was like the bush that burned with fire and was not consumed. That hour always had the exultation of victory. It was a sudden transfiguration, a lifting-up of day (22). Jims nature leads him to believe that he can never become a scholar because the excitement of thinking is quick to remind him of his cherished prairie land and the people who inhabited it (125). Jims is more reminded of moments like these of his friends when he goes off to college. In college, Jim thinks more of Black Hawk, the prairie, and all the people he knew. He would often reminisce about Antonia and others he knew and wished those fleeting times would come back again. For instance, he expresses the concept of Optima dies... prima fugit when he states, As I sat down to my book at last, my old dream about Lena coming across the harvest field in her short skirt see...