Neighbor Rosicky by Willa Cather - Essay Example

Neighbor Rosicky Neighbor Rosicky is a short story written about an immigrant and his life in a farm, in Nebraska. The short story puts forward themes that emphasize the importance of hard work, freedom and family unity. The protagonist in the story is a man called Anton Rosicky, which centers on his beliefs about life and his perceptions concerning other people. This paper aims to discuss how the thistles metaphorically represent Anton’s main problem in the book. Anton Rosicky is an immigrant to the US from Europe and at the age of 35 years decides to settle with his family in Nebraska where he lives as a farmer. He is diagnosed with a heart problem, which puts immediacy in his affairs. He is determined to see his family do well in terms of happiness and health wise, which he considers more vital than material wealth. This illustrates his concern for his family’s well being when he contemplates on whether the crops, on his farm, will survive the coming harsh winter season. The news from his doctor about his weakened heart leads him to reflect upon his life more than he used to before receiving the news. Anton Rosicky finds himself engaging in story telling with members of his family about past events. For example, when he joins his wife in recalling their most memorable times during their long marriage (Werlock 38). The story in the book also tells of how he reflects upon his times in London and New York before he had become a farmer. Common to all immigrants, the city proved to be a useful place to go because work was easier to find there enabling someone to earn a living. Thus according to Anton’s contemplation, his stay in the cities afforded him the opportunity to meet his future wife. He was able to earn enough money to acquire a farm where he would raise his family. His reflections about his past also give the reader an opportunity to learn that, despite the fact that he appreciated what the cities enabled him to achieve, he still had misgivings about cities. The thistles in Anton’s garden can be construed to represent the negative attitude he had about life in a city and the lifestyle it offered. The alfalfa crop represents Rosicky’s notion of an ideal lifestyle, but this lifestyle is threatened by city life, which is represented by thistles. Anton had this negative attitude about city life, which made him believe that it was not a good place for his son. This is because the lifestyle in the city, according to Anton, was not fit for a man to thrive in ways that he appreciated as being worthwhile. Anton was afraid that his son Rudolph would be influenced, by his wife Polly, to move away from the farm and go live in the city. This is because Polly was a city girl and there is a reference in the story where her marriage is termed as an “American wedding” (Werlock 86). This is Anton’s referral to his son’s marriage to a city girl and possibly because she was not of immigrant parenthood. Anton believed that it was because of Polly’s background that she did not appreciate features and values what he deemed as vital, in his family’s life. Rosicky also reflects on the impact that Polly’s influence would have on the principles about life that he had taught his son. This was because Polly’s perceptions and concepts about the city lifestyle were entirely different from his convictions. In the story, thistles are used to metaphorically to represent Anton’s main problem of the probability of his son Rudy moving to live in the city with Polly his wife. His problem is further agitated by the fact that he has a heart problem an indicator that he does not have long to live. Thistles among his cultivated alfalfa crop represent his fears and limitations that Anton is facing in life. Thistles compete and threaten the welfare of his Alfalfa crop by reducing nutrients available to the crop (Werlock 22). Thistles metaphorically represent his ‘bad heart’, which threatens his life and his continued efforts to provide and care for them. The alfalfa crop represents his family, hopes and dreams which are threatened by his ailing health due to a ‘bad heart’. Polly’s background, as a city girl, is a cause for concern on his part because he is afraid of what her influence will entail to his family. Thus, it would suffice to say that Polly’s influence on his family especially his son Rudy to whom she is married, can also be metaphorically represented by thistles in cultivation with his alfalfa crop. Thistle metaphorical representation of his problem is complemented by the fact Anton’s efforts to rid his alfalfa crop of thistle infestation instigated his demise. Anton was advised against exerting himself with hard labor, but the presence of thistle in his alfalfa crop prompted him to contravene doctor’s orders and remove them. This act contributed heavily to his final fate, and it is a strong metaphorical association. Anton’s misgivings about the city’s lifestyle give him a strong conviction that made him believe it would be a bad idea for his son Rudy to go and live in the city. Therefore, he strives to do everything in his power to covertly discourage his son from developing notions of relocating to the city. Rosicky’s actions of trying to exert some influence on his son can be metaphorically related to thistles in his alfalfa crop. Anton is seen trying to eliminate the influence that might be directed, at his son Rudy, to move to the city. This is metaphorically represented by his actions when he tries to remove the thistle in his alfalfa crop, in the garden. The story illustrates how he forwards the idea to his son about spending some time in the city on weekend evenings. He gives the couple his car to use for their trips to the city, and he even volunteers to do the cleaning up after dinner to avail them time to indulge in pleasures offered by the city. In the story, Anton understands that if he encouraged the young married couple to venture out into the city, it would work to quench Polly’s desires and Rudy’s curiosity of the city life. This would in turn diminish Polly’s appreciation of city life and influence her to perceive it according to his point of view. Anton’s struggle with Polly’s influence on his family is brought to light when near the end of the story during his heart attack; she calls him father for the first time (Werlock 75). This is an indicator that she had reservations about accepting him as her father in-law, which might have been due to his own reservations about her. Polly could have been sensing this making her give the old man a somewhat cold shoulder. But the instance illustrated when she calls him father is a testimonial that she had indeed grown fond of him, which can also be construed to mean that she appreciated what he held dear. Rosicky’s ‘bad heart’ acts as a compromise in his life and dreams, which he has for his family. From a metaphorical point of view, thistles represent his heart problem, which threatens his aspirations to continue providing and taking care of his family. Polly, Rudy’s wife can also be construed to be metaphorically represented by thistles because she poses as a significant influence on Rudy. She is capable of driving him to decide on moving from the farm and going to live in the city. Thistles and the family symbolize Polly’s influence on Anton’s family by alfalfa. The metaphorical representation provided by thistles in the story work effectively to bring to fore the problems that the protagonist in the story faced and tried to overcome. The use of thistle as a metaphorical association contributed to bringing out the theme of the story in Neighbor Rosicky. Work Cited. Werlock, A. H. P. Companion to Literature: Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story. 2nd Edition. Infobase Publishing. 2009. Print. Read More