VII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Coming of Age

  Jim's killing of the rattlesnake marks a turning point in his self-perception and in Ántonia's view of him, symbolizing his transition from boyhood.

• Land and Nature

  The vivid description of the prairie-dog town and the encounter with the snake highlight the wild, untamed character of the Nebraska landscape.

Characters to notice

• Jim Burden

  Narrator and protagonist; kills a giant rattlesnake, gaining Ántonia's respect.

• Ántonia Shimerda

  Accompanies Jim to borrow a spade; witnesses the snake killing and admires Jim's bravery.

• Otto Fuchs

  First to see the dead snake; comments on Jim's luck and skill.

• Russian Peter

  Lends the spade that Jim uses to kill the snake.

• Ambrosch Shimerda

  Needs the spade borrowed from Russian Peter.

Key passages

• “Much as I liked Ántonia, I hated a superior tone that she sometimes took with me. She was four years older than I, to be sure, and had seen more of the world; but I was a boy and she was a girl, and I resented her protecting manner.”

  Although Jim is fond of Ántonia, he dislikes her condescending attitude, feeling that as a boy he should not be patronized by a girl, even if she is older.

  Establishes the initial power dynamic between Jim and Ántonia.

• “I saw his coils tighten—now he would spring, spring his length, I remembered. I ran up and drove at his head with my spade, struck him fairly across the neck, and in a minute he was all about my feet in wavy loops.”

  Jim recalls the snake's coiling motion, then charges forward and hits it on the neck with the spade, causing it to thrash around his feet.

  Climactic moment of the snake killing.

• “That snake hung on our corral fence for several days; some of the neighbors came to see it and agreed that it was the biggest rattler ever killed in those parts. This was enough for Ántonia. She liked me better from that time on, and she never took a supercilious air with me again. I had killed a big snake—I was now a big fellow.”

  The snake's size impresses the neighbors, and Ántonia's respect for Jim grows; he feels he has proven himself as a man.

  Concludes the chapter with Jim's sense of achievement and changed relationship with Ántonia.