Book 1: Chapter 17 Summary

Spring arrives and the Shimerdas have a home the neighbors helped them build in March. Jim now gives reading lessons to Yulka. A'ntonia is fifteen years old and is no longer a child to Jim. Jim visits A'ntonia on behalf of his grandmother to ask if she will attend school. A'ntonia cannot go because she has to help with the farming, but she wants Jim to tell her what he learns and mentions how educated her father was. Jim stays for dinner, but the discussion becomes mean when Mrs. Shimerda complains about a cow Jim's grandfather sold her and an old broken axe for which Ambrosch says he was not responsible. Jim is critical of A'ntonia's rough manners from working the farm, and he is aware that people are talking badly of her.

Book 1: Chapter 17 Analysis

Spring is symbolic of change...