Willa Cather's writing in My Ántonia—as well as her other novels—is characterized by intense figurative language and the use of vivid, romantic sensory detail. The novel depicts everyday life in a realistic way while still emphasizing the extreme difficulty of the life in the American frontier and the grandeur of the prairie landscape.
Cather's writing is spare and simple, using uncluttered diction and short, punchy moments of dialogue. Although her descriptions of Nebraska are elaborate and ardent, Cather describes characters' interactions in a matter-of-fact way. This allows the reader to draw their own conclusions from the events that befall Jim and his companions. In this way, the novel is moving but not overtly sentimental. It relies on the drama of Jim's developing personality and opinions, his identity as a man in a rigidly patriarchal society, and the difficulties his love life places him in to draw out the reader's sympathy.
This book is often cited as an example of Modernist literature, a literary movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century in response to global warfare, colonialism, and the conventions of Victorian fiction. The fragmented and nonlinear narrative structure of My Ántonia is typical of this genre of fiction. The book incorporates a frame story, frequent digressions in time and subject matter, and several uses of flashback. These stylistic choices allow Cather to explore and intermingle the past and present experiences of her characters in a nuanced and emotionally provocative way.
