26 pages • 52 minutes read
Willa CatherNeighbour Rosicky
Fiction | Short Story | AdultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Rosicky's Heart
"Neighbour Rosicky" opens with Doctor Burleigh diagnosing Rosicky with a failingheart. On one level, this is ironic, because it becomes clear over the course of the story that Rosicky is an unusually kind and loving man; far from having a "bad" heart, he has an exceptionally good heart.In another sense, however, Rosicky's heart—that is, his generosity and compassion—does prove to be a weakness. Rosicky, for instance, chooses a precarious life farming over a more stable existence in the city because he cannot bear the thought of harming others, even inadvertently; in the country, "You didn't have to choose between bosses and strikers, and go wrong either way. You didn't have to do with dishonest and cruel people" (Part VI, Paragraph 3). Although Cather makes it clear that Rosicky's kindness is something to aspire to, it is nevertheless true that it prevents him from achieving worldly success. Tellingly, it is also what eventually kills him, since he strains his heart while clearing thistles from a field for his sons' benefit.
The Graveyard
Cather uses the graveyard near Rosicky's farm as a way of exploring the nature of life, as well as the differences between urban and rural existence. Unlike city cemeteries, which Doctor Burleigh characterizes as "arranged and lonely and unlike anything in the living world," the graveyard where Rosicky is eventually buried is fully integrated into its surroundings; it sits next to Rosicky's hay-field, is the resting-place for many of his neighbors, and seems like an extension of the open fields and skies (Part VI, Paragraph 32). In other words, rather than being a "city of the dead," the graveyard in "Neighbour Rosicky" is living and vital, much like Rosicky himself (Part VI, Paragraph 32).
Mary's Geraniums
The red geraniums Mary keeps in the window are a symbol of the Rosickys' ability to find enjoyment and beauty in life even in the midst of hardship. As Doctor Burleigh notes admiringly, Mary is able against all odds to keep the geraniums blooming through winter. This parallels the broader way in which the Rosickys live their lives, choosing to indulge in small pleasures despite looming hardships (such as picnicking in the face of a crop failure). Since Cather later states that the geraniums are in bloom on Christmas day, the flowers may also carry a Christian meaning about the presence of life in death; "Neighbour Rosicky," after all, is a story that affirms the beauty of Rosicky's life, despite being about his death.
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By Willa Cather
