Personality Quiz - Charlotte, Anneka, and Sophia

[Mrs. Patterson]

Charlotte: Jim
Anneka: Mrs. Shimerda
Sophia: Jim

Please describe and defend your character's view on the following issue (in the first or third person, as you prefer):

The Shimerdas' material need and the Burdens' limited aid, and Mrs. Shimerda's pride and boastfulness (and at times, her seeming ungratefulness)

Direct support from the book would greatly strengthen your description and defense.

[Anneka]

Mrs. Shimerda is a proud woman who dislikes other people knowing of her or her family's weaknesses, especially strangers. She realizes her family is in need of food, but she is unwilling to ask directly for help. She is proud of what little they have, such as rotting potatoes and a few handfuls of flour. However, homesickness and the harsh lifestyle of her new world prove to be too much for Mrs. Shimerda sometimes, causing a crack in her normally proud composure. "Then the poor woman broke down. She dropped on the floor beside her crazy son, hid her face on her knees, and sat crying bitterly...I had never seen her crushed like this before. (Cather 52)" These breakdowns show that Mrs. Shimerda is still human, though she tries very hard to look as tough as possible. She does not feel in control of her life in America since it is a new lifestyle and a new home. She seems ungrateful for help from the Burdens because even though her family needs the help, she feels as if her life is being controlled by both Krajiek, their landlord, and the Burdens, even if that was not the Burdens' intention.

[charlottelang]

Jim believes Mrs. Shimerda to be very ungrateful, and he has good reason to. His grandparents are hard-working people, and nothing they get is for free. The fact that Mrs. Shimerda keeps coming back for more handouts is what bothers Jim so much. He would not be so opposed to her if she hadn't kept coming back for more. Jim often helps his grandmother with the chores, such as picking potatoes in Chapter Two. He even comments on how the potatoes weigh her back down: "Grandmother swung the bag of potatoes over her shoulder and went down the path, leaning forward a little" (Cather 16). Growing up on the farm, Jim has learned to appreciate all the manual labor his grandparents put into it. Mrs. Shimerda represents what he believes to be a poor example of how to live and support your family: relying on other people. Jim is especially put off by Mrs. Shimerda during her first visit to the Burdens' house. After Mrs. Shimerda has run around examining all of their material objects, she takes one of Jim's grandmother's pots without permission: "In the kitchen she caught up an iron pot that stood on the back of the stove and said: 'You got many, Shimerdas no got.' I thought it weak-minded of grandmother to give the pot to her" (62). Jim is angry that Mrs. Shimerda is not humbled by the fact that she is poor. Perhaps he would have been more sympathetic if she hadn't been so boastful, but her attitude makes her very unlikable.

Mrs. Shimerda is also the reason her family is in America, which Jim resents her for. Not that he doesn't love the company of Antonia, but in part Mrs. Shimerda is the reason that Mr. Shimerda is so unhappy and homesick. It is not a secret that Jim harbors resentment towards Mrs. Shimerda. Though it is never stated in the text, he believes she is partly responsible for her husband's suicide, and her lack of humility does not help him like her. Jim dislikes Mrs. Shimerda because she takes more than she gives, and is unpleasant while doing so.

[Sophia]

Jim: Mrs. Shimerda is so ungrateful! Just taking my grandmother's pot like that and justifying it by saying she did not have as many. Work hard on your own land and maybe once you have earned your keep you could buy your own pots. Why did grandmother let her take the pot? I would have taken it back right away. Why did she even come to Black Hawk if she just wants other people's things with the work. She keeps on coming back, but I do not think we need to help her. She is the one who wanted to come to Black Hawk, so she should either work hard or go back to Bohemia. She thinks too highly of herself as well. She once told grandmother that her housekeeping would be as good if she had the right resources. It seemed as though she was trying to get more help and we have given her enough. I do believe the only thing that Mrs. Shimerda has ever given us was the bag of dried mushroom chips that grandmother threw away. It was a kind gesture, but it did not move me to favor her one bit. I just do not like Mrs. Shimerda.