The novel has come full circle of the year. When Jim and Ántonia came to Nebraska, the potatoes were being dug and the pumpkins lying about the patch; now it is harvest time again. We have seen four seasons: the glorious, peaceful autumn; the bitter winter, with Mr. Shimerda’s suicide; the restless spring, with the trouble between neighbors; and, finally, the harvest, with harmony restored. This is symbolic of the circular nature of life with all of its moments of happiness, hopes, promises, and disappointments.
Although Book I ends with a time of tranquility, Ántonia realizes that her life will not always be like this. She wishes she could be more like a man; she feels she needs to be hard to survive and master life on the hard Nebraska prairie. Her final words—“Things will be easy for you. But they will be hard for us.”—are like a sinister prediction for more difficult times ahead.
