My Ántonia · Character

Wick Cutter

Black Hawk's moneylender, a pious-talking, yellow-whiskered predator who fleeces farmers and preys on the immigrant girls who work in his house.

supporting

Also known as Cutter, XI, XI Wick Cutter

First appearance: xii

As a supporting figure in My Ántonia, Wick Cutter is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The merciless moneylender who holds mortgages on Peter's property and buys the sale notes at a discount.

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See Wick Cutter in VIII Book page

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Cutter is the town's most respectable scoundrel: he quotes Poor Richard to boys, contributes to churches 'for sentiment's sake,' and keeps a wife he fights with while carrying on with Swedish servant girls. He fleeced Russian Peter, and his interest in hiring Ántonia is clearly not about housework — Mrs. Harling's warning that Ántonia would have 'a fling she won't get up from' is the novel's bluntest statement of what he is. He embodies the exploitative side of Black Hawk's economy, the danger that waits for immigrant girls who have no family to protect them.

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See Wick Cutter in xii

Character Web

3 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Extended community and later life
Central characters and family
Black Hawk townspeople

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

Jim’s solitary reading of Virgil’s *Georgics* marks the emotional and psychological peak because it crystalliz…

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In the story

Wick Cutter appears across 4 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

VIII
The merciless moneylender who holds mortgages on Peter's property and buys the sale notes at a discount.
XI
The moneylender who fleeced Russian Peter; a gambler, womanizer, and hypocrite who quotes Poor Richard's Almanac and maintains a prim exterior.
XV
Cutter deceives his wife, returns home early, and attacks Jim in a jealous rage.
II
Deceased; his murder-suicide and spiteful estate planning are recounted by Rudolph.

Chapter companion notes

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See Wick Cutter in xii

See Wick Cutter in VIII