Neighbour Rosicky Written by Willa Cather - Essay Example

Neighbour Rosicky “Neighbour Rosicky” by Willa Cather is a touching short story that portrays a farmer’s immigrant experiences along with his life at the farm. The protagonist, Anton Rosicky, is a generous, kindhearted farmer with a good humored disposition who in the end, ironically, passes away due to a “bad heart.” The story is about how, after all the hardships he faced in life, reflects upon his experiences and constantly endeavors in order to keep his children at bay from the kind of life he had lived in the past. He worries mainly about his eldest son, Rudolph, who has fallen deeply in love with and married an American woman at an inadvisable time, and is now thinking of quitting the farm to get a job and earn more money. Rudolph’s wife is not used to the type of life Rosicky’s family is living in the country, so it appears that the couple is breaking apart due to unseen differences which are increasing day by day. And Rosicky, even with his heart condition, wants them to have a good life in the country. He understands that Rudolph and his wife love each other truly, but the harsh circumstances of life are tearing them apart. Anton decides to allow more space to the couple and give them every chance to let them live their life freely and according to their own will. He knows that the thistles, if cultivated with the alfalfa, can cause the family trouble, and in order to make sure that his family is comfortable, he uproots the plant that lies between Anton’s home place and Rudolph’s. In the beginning, the story is narrated by Dr. Ed Burleigh, who is his physician and has practically known him since forever and shares an intimacy with Rosicky’s family, too. When he tells Rosicky about the condition unfavorable of his heart, suggesting him to take care of it by abstaining from strenuous work at the farm, he replied: "So? No, I guess my heart was always pretty good. I got a little asthma, maybe. Just a awful short breath when I was pitchin' hay last summer, dat's all"(Quantic and Hefen 448). The doctor knows what a good man Rosicky is: the kind of man who stresses about others more than himself. And such men are hard to find. Although he was aging(65 years old) and sick, with his “large and lively eyes” he did not look sick at all. His kindness was such that he had had the doctor over at his place earlier last winter and ensured that he get a good, satisfying breakfast when he really needed one. Rosicky had, what could be called a bitter past: his mother had passed away when he was little, and he had been sent to his grandparents in the country. It was during these times that he developed a strong liking for this type of life where he was freer and less bound. He stayed there until he was twelve years old and deeply bonded with the farm and the farm animals. His later years were spent in London, where his life hadn’t been too ideal. And it had went on to be so until he had saved enough to quit and move back home at the age of 35. He was extremely fond of country life. Perhaps the reason behind this was his early years which were spent away from major cities. And in comparison to it, he described his life in the city as having “lived in the unnatural world, like the fish in an aquarium, who were much more comfortable than they ever were in the sea.” (Quantic and Hefen 457). Despite the comfort, there is something lacking in aquarium life; it maybe its artificial nature or perhaps the limitations in the form of aquarium boundaries. In the country people cared for each other, knew their neighbors well, and if they were not fond of somebody, they had rather kept their dislike to themselves instead of exhibiting their meanness by employing vile means and Rosicky was a living example of that. He had passed on his good disposition to his sons too, and loved them so much so that he even loved Rudolph’s wife ever so dearly. He could not imagine them being in misery, and worried most about the discontent couple. He did as much as one possibly could to save their unstable marriage in its early stages by enlightening them: He came up with the brilliant idea to let them have his car for Saturday night, suggesting they should go to the movies and have some fun, and volunteering to do their chores. In a life so hard, taking care of son’s responsibilities while allowing him to go and enjoy is a favor which only a truly loving father could give. You go an' fix yourself up, Polly, an' I'll wash de dishes an' leave everything nice fur you," he had said to his daughter in law, who was totally taken aback by his utterly kind gesture. So much so, that as Cather describes it, That kind, reassuring grip on her elbows, the old man's funny bright eyes, made Polly want to drop her head on his shoulder for a second.” (Cather and Kari 34) He also gave Rudolph a silver dollar so he could buy his wife some candy. Moreover, the day before Christmas he invited the couple over for supper, and told stories about how their family had stayed persistent and managed to survive some pretty rough times. His purpose was to give them an idea about how life becomes tough at times and then at times it becomes lovely. The only thing is to keep on working hard and never give up, as this is the only way to survival and success. He hoped they would learn from it and not give up on their lives so easily. Polly was a modern American girl, and Rosicky worried she wouldn’t be able to adjust with them. Polly, too, had been a little doubtful about it. Keeping in view her past and the family to which she belonged, she was quite upset about the prevailing circumstance in her husband’s home. But then came the day when one morning, Rosicky went up to the alfalfa field (that was plagued with thistles) that lay between his own and Rudolph’s place and raked the thistles that he’d been wanting his sons to do it, but they were too busy with the corn. But shortly after he was done, a pain rose in his chest and Polly saw him just in time and ran to him, crying, "Lean on me, Father, hard! Don't be afraid. We can get to the house all right."(Quantic and Hefen 467) She took him home and while tending to him, she closely observed him and realized “that she had never learned so much about life from anything as from old Rosicky's hand. It brought her to herself; it communicated some direct and untranslatable message.” (Quantic & Hefen, 468). Later, when he recovered he had the realization that “he might never have known what a tender heart she had if he hadn't got sick over there.” (Quantic and Hefen 469) It shows how pleasant country life can be if life is taken as it is, despite all the hard work one must do to survive, and without complaining about the atrocities that time throws at us. It also shows that there very few people in life who truly care about others, and these are the ones whose presence change the colors on the canvas of life. He strived for his family until he died. He had not only uprooted the thistles from his son’s field, but also from his marriage and between Polly and his family. References Top of Form Cather, Willa, and Kari A. Ronning. Obscure Destinies. Lincoln [u.a.: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1998. Print. Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Quantic, Diane D, and P J. Hafen. A Great Plains Reader. Lincoln, Neb: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. Print. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More