The American dream in My Antonia, Neighbor Rosicky and 0 Pioneers! While many American immigrant stories focus on the culture shock that awaits those who arrive from the more rural Old World to live in a city for the first time, Willa Cather's immigrants, often from urban European backgrounds, find themselves facing the vast and empty lands of the plains. Guy Reynolds notes that "America's massive westward boom was fueled in part by the explosion of immigrants along the East Coast and across the continent. Ethnic diversity was at the heart of America's westward push” (63). Land and land ownership shape the lives of these newcomers in powerful ways, providing them with an immigration experience that is, in some ways, entirely unique. In “Neighbor Rosicky”, 0 Pioneers! and My Antonia, Cather presents vivid characters and situations that serve to depict urban-rural conflict in America and, as John H. Randall III notes, "'there is no doubt in the attitude of the author ". “One must ask whether the country or city is the real America” (272). In “Neighbor Rosicky,” the notion of land ownership as a fundamental part of the American dream is stated most clearly. Anton Rosicky is a Czech who experienced life as an immigrant in London and New York and found both lacking. It is only in his life on the Nebraska farm that he finds peace and fulfillment. Rosicky had been a tailor in the Old Country and had first immigrated to London, where he was miserable and poor. At twenty he left London for New York and for a time he was happy there, becoming "a good worker" (Cather, "'Neighbor Rosicky" 241) and experiencing the cultural life of the city, including opera and ballet. Over time, however, it...... middle of paper ...... owning land provides a substantial part of the American dream that immigrants come to the United States hoping to realize. Works Cited Cather, Willa. My Antonia. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1995.---. “Neighbor Rosicky.” Collected Stories. New York. Vintage Classics, 1992. 231-261---. 0 Pioneers. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1995. McFarland, Dorothy Tuck. Willa Cather. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1972. Randall, III, John H. “Interpretation of my Antonia.” Willa Cather and her critics. Ed. James Schroeter. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967. 272-322.Reynolds, Guy. Willa Cather in context. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. Woodness, James. “Willa Cather: American experience and European tradition.” The art of Willa Cather. Ed. Bernice Slote and Virginia Faulkner. Lincoln: 1974. 43-64.