Twenty years pass. Jim has had little contact with Ántonia. While traveling through Europe, he sent her pictures from Bohemia, and she wrote and thanked him, telling him the names and ages of her children. He heard from Tiny that Ántonia's husband "was not a man of much force, and she had had a hard life." Jim has been afraid to see Ántonia again because he wants to remember her as she was — he doesn't want to be disappointed. Finally, Lena persuades him to go see Ántonia.
When Jim arrives by open buggy at the Cuzak farm, Ántonia's husband and eldest son are away. At first Ántonia doesn't recognize Jim. He looks at her and sees that she is "battered but not diminished"; her identity is intact. Ántonia is delighted when she recognizes him, then becomes suddenly fearful, asking if someone has died. Jim reassures her that he didn't come for a funeral. She introduces him to her children, and then she and Jim walk in the orchard and talk about the days when they were young.
After supper, Leo and Yulka furnish music. Leo, who has inherited Mr. Shimerda's violin, plays the instrument very well for a self-taught boy. Yulka plays the organ, but not quite as well as Leo plays the violin. Ántonia brings out a box of photographs, and as they look at the photos, Jim senses a harmony among the members of the family. He finds that Ántonia's children know all about the people whom she and Jim grew up with.
At bedtime, Jim chooses to sleep in the haymow with two of the boys. He lies awake for a long time, thinking about how Ántonia turned out, how her fire did not diminish.
