Willa Cather, Nebraska prairies, nature, European immigrants, Bohemia, American dream

This paper examines the significant role of nature inthe novel My Ántonia by Willa Cather. The author draws on her ownmemories of Nebraska,its landscape, life on a farm, and the experience of European immigrants andtheir struggle to make a better life in the wilderness, emphasizing theimportance of nature in their attempt to achieve the American Dream. On onehand, the prairie represents toil and hardship for the immigrants, who weregreatly challenged by the harsh landscape in their attempts to cultivate thesoil. On the other hand, the land sustains all people if they know how tocultivate it. The landscape of Nebraskatested the immigrants? endurance and presented an obstacle to prosperity andeven survival itself. However, the immigrants ? led by the main characterÁntonia Shimerda, originally from Bohemia? show an unbreakable determination to succeed.