My Antonia and Huckleberry Finn Essay

Characters from various books that may or may not have anything to do with one another can be similar and different in many ways. Huckleberry Finn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and Antonia Shimerda from My Antonia by Willa Cather are similar in a variety of ways, however they have important differences. Huckleberry Finn is always ready to go on any type of adventure with his best friend Tom Sawyer. Also, the pair are extremely superstitious. Huck is discriminated against for a myriad of reasons. Some being, he is the son of the town drunk, so the adults frown upon him. Because of his father’s lifestyle he is basically an orphan, he has to find his own food, clothes, and a place to sleep. He also does not attend church or school. Opposite to that, the boys of the town envy him for his freedom and lack of discipline. The Widow Douglass who lives in town offers Huck a place to stay. She says he can live in her house, and with the money from the treasure he and Tom found she would be able to support him. Tom encouraged Huck to take advantage of this offer while he could. This was a hard decision for Huck to make because he is not willing to give up his independence that he is accustomed to. He lives with the widow for a short period of time then decides he enjoys being on his own and is willing to face the hardships of life by himself to maintain his freedom. Antonia Shimerda is extremely generous and optimistic. Through the hardships of immigrating to America from Bohemia, her father committing suicide, and her fiance leaving her before they get married, and at this time she is pregnant, she never looses hope. She looks for the best in every situation and tries to find a solution for everything. Everyday she has to face racial and gender discrimination. She is judged brutally by the townspeople because of her love for dance. Her and her family, which now consists of her mother, brothers and sisters, have to face the difficulties of life after the death of their father along with the difficulties of living in a new country. Her and her family are living in poverty, and are trying extremely hard just to survive. Later, Antonia works as a servant. Her boss does not like her habit of attending the dances she enjoys going to. He threatens to fire her if she continues to attend these dances. She loves her independence too much to let someone take it away. So she works for a brutal boss and suffers so she can have her independence and go to her dances. Huckleberry Finn and Antonia Shimerda have many similarities and differences. They have very different characteristics, however they both face many hardships, discrimination on a daily basis, and they both value their independence a lot that they would rather live harder lives so they can be independent.