How does this passage support the theme "following social
rules leads people to avoid risk"?
read this excerpt from my antonia.
the country girls were considered a menace to the
social order. their beauty shone out too boldly against
a conventional background. but anxious mothers need
have felt no alarm. they mistook the mettle of their
sons. the respect for respectability was stronger than
any desire in black hawk youth.
the country girls learn the american ways of life through
their contacts with the black hawk men and their
the country girls are portrayed as vibrant and beautiful,
while the black hawk men are portrayed as conventional
and afraid of risks
and afraid of risks.
the country girls are portrayed as dangerous, which is
why the men and their mothers are afraid of them.
the black hawk men learn to take risks and go against
convention by meeting the country girls.