My Ántonia, Chapter 10 summary
Chapter 10 of 45 · Book 1: The Shimerdas · 9 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 10, Jim, Grandmother, and Jake bring food to the Shimerdas and discover how severely cold, hunger, and poor shelter affect them. Mr. Shimerda explains their dwindling savings and hopes for spring, while his wife offers a treasured food gift that Grandmother distrusts and burns.
What happens
- Reports of scarce food prompt Grandmother to pack provisions and visit the Shimerdas with Jim and Jake.
- Mrs. Shimerda displays their spoiled potatoes and scant flour, then breaks down when Jake brings the food.
- Mr. Shimerda shows Grandmother the small earthen recess where Ántonia and Yulka sleep.
- Through Ántonia, Mr. Shimerda explains their expenses, remaining money, and plans for farming and a new house.
- Mrs. Shimerda gives Grandmother dried food from Bohemia, and Grandmother and Jake discuss their duty toward struggling neighbors.
- Grandmother burns the unfamiliar gift, but Jim tastes a piece and identifies it retrospectively as dried mushrooms.
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In this chapter
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What does Jim identify the Shimerdas’ food gift as?
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“My Ántonia, Chapter 10 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-ntonia-chapter-10-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). My Ántonia, Chapter 10 summary. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-ntonia-chapter-10-summary
“My Ántonia, Chapter 10 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-ntonia-chapter-10-summary.
@misc{my_ntonia_chapter_10_summary_2026,
title = {My Ántonia, Chapter 10 summary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-ntonia-chapter-10-summary}
}
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