# Peter Krajiek — My Ántonia character guide

> Peter Krajiek in My Ántonia by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Krajiek, Peter, Rooshian Peter, poor Russian Peter

**First appearance:** 0006-ii

## Snapshot

A jolly, homesick Russian immigrant who sells the Shimerdas their wretched farm at a swindle and then lives off their dependence, all while plying Jim with watermelons.

## Who they are

Krajiek is the Shimerdas' only countryman in the neighborhood, which makes him both their translator and their exploiter — he sold them a dugout farm for far more than it was worth and pockets the difference. His loneliness is real: he left Russia over a 'great trouble,' and he wistfully tells the Burden children he might have had a daughter of his own. His mixture of hospitality and petty predation shows how isolation on the prairie could make even a kind man dangerous to those more vulnerable than himself.

## Relationships

### [Pavel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/pavel)

_friendship_

Pavel and Peter are two Russian immigrants who live together and share a tragic, isolated existence on the prairie.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/iv)

Exploits the Shimerdas, encouraging their distrust of town and living with them in the dugout barn.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/peter_krajiek
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters