Travelling across the vast great plains at the age of ten, Jim was introduced to a new destiny in the Nebraska landscape. We saw how he transformed from a young boy into a successful New York lawyer. Jim's relationships throughout the novel contribute to his transformation as a character. As he transitioned into adulthood, Jim always referred to the past as an important time in his life; he constantly refers to nostalgic memories of his teenagers. He refers to his memories in Nebraska as: “In the course of twenty crowded years one parts with many illusions. I didn't want to miss the first ones. Some memories are reality and are better than anything that could ever happen to us again” (259). He claims that the memories he developed during adolescence, especially with Antonia, are stronger than any new illusions that might happen in the future. He later states: “My mind drifted away from me and suddenly I found myself thinking about places and people from my infinitesimal past. Now they stood out strengthened and simplified, like the image of the plow against the sun” (216). Jim's nostalgia for Antonia is first introduced in the novel when he leaves for school and Lena is brought back into his life; the second when he returns to Blackhawks to see Antonia. When Jim first leaves for school, he is lying on the shore with Antonia, he exclaims, "Antonia that day seemed to me exactly like the little girl who came to our house with Mr. Shimerda" (129). This happened before Jim and Antonia spent time apart, however, Jim still remembers the time of his fond childhood memories. He constantly remembers the time he spent with Antonia because he has had feelings for her all his life. Talki......middle of paper......they sent into the landscape of Nebraska. Both characters are happy throughout the novel, however, they relate to their time together. Cather is trying to show that Jim and Antonia love a simple part of their life; where they would explore the land. The last stanza of the novel reads: “I had the feeling of coming home to myself and having discovered what the experience of a little man in a circle is… Now I understood that the same road would bring us together again. What we had lacked, we possessed together in the precious, incommunicable past” (196). Carter explains that the characters will never be able to convey to others what their time as teenagers in Nebraska was like, but they will always know how it makes them feel. The little moments they spent together were like, from killing the six-foot rattlesnake, to dancing late into the night.