Transcript Neighbour Rosicky”

“Neighbour Rosicky” (1928)
Willa Cather
Willa Cather (1)
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American regionalist and modernist, author of
My Antonia (1916), Death Comes for the
Archbishop (1925), The Professor’s House
(1927) and other novels.
Born 1873, Back Creek Valley, Virginia
At age 10, moved with family to Webster
County, Nebraska, “the Divide”
Willa Cather (2)
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The theme of uprooting or exile became a
central one in Cather’s fiction
“I was little and homesick and lonely. . . . So
the country and I had it out together and by
the end of the first autumn the shaggy grass
country had gripped me with a passion that I
have never been able to shake. It has been
the happiness and curse of my life.”
Willa Cather (3)
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After a year, the Cathers settled in Red
Cloud, Nebraska, the basis for many small
towns in Cather’s fiction—including the town
in “Rosicky”
In Nebraska, Willa met immigrants from
France, Germany, Scandinavia, Bohemia,
and Russia
“Neighbour Rosicky”: Family Conflict (1)
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A story of family conflict set against the larger
American story of immigrants coming from
the big cities of Europe and the U.S. east
coast and settling on the American prairie
An immigrant Bohemian farmer in Nebraska
is nearing the end of his life, remembering
the important events of his life
“Neighbour Rosicky”: Family Conflict (2)
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He tries to control his family’s future by
ensuring that his sons stay on the farmland
he settled, rather than move to the city
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He tries to make his non-immigrant daughterin-law feel part of the family
Rosicky as Immigrant
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boyhood in rural Bohemia (through age 12)
teenage years in London’s Cheapside, poor tailor’s
apprentice (age 12-20)
single, young adult life in New York, tailor, learned
English (age 20-35)
later life as Nebraska farmer, a family man and
landowner (age 35-65) (Rosickys based on Cather’s
Nebraska acquaintances John & Annie Pavelka)
Immigrant life/Modernist structure (1)
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Rosicky’s life unfolds in the story not
chronologically but according to Rosicky’s
memories—modernist structure
Unity is not chronological but thematic:
decisive moments that define Rosicky’s
values
See p. 1129, sec. III, para. 3: “While he
sewed, he let his mind run back over his life. .
. .”
Immigrant life/Modernist structure (2)
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Tailoring and remembering: As Rosicky patches his
family’s clothes, he patches together his life
July 4, #1: Central event: see p. 1130, para. 3: “But
as the years passed, all alike, he began to get a little
restless. . . .” (through end of section III)
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New York “cemented you away from” ground
Earliest memories of Bohemian farm
Rosicky a “very simple man” (1131)
Immigrant life/Modernist structure (3)
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July 4, #2: See p. 1135, 2nd to last para.:
“‘Nothin’,” he says, ‘but it’s pretty hot. . .”
(through middle p. 1136)
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Rosicky’s personal expression of
freedom/independence: nakedness
Enjoying what you have
Country vs. City
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A major theme in Rosicky’s life
The problems of the city vs. benefits of the
country: see p. 1138, last para. “Sitting
beside the flowering window. . .” (through p.
1139, para. 2)
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Country life allows privacy: an American value
However, New York is first portrayed
positively (see top of p. 1130)
George Bellows, Cliff Dwellers, 1913
Childe Hassam, Union Square in Spring, 1896
Immigrant vs. “American”
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Polly “was sensitive about marrying a foreigner”
(1132)
“Generally speaking, marrying an American girl was
a risk. A Czech should marry a Czech” (1133)
See p. 1136, 3rd para. from bottom: “When
[Rudolph’s] mother sent over a coffee-cake or prune
tarts or a loaf of fresh bread, Polly seemed to regard
them with a certain suspicion.”
Marriage as social unifier
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The marriage of Rosicky and his wife Mary
brings together city and country people. See
p. 1128, last para. “He was fifteen years older
than Mary. . .”
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In the new generation, the marriage between
Rudolph and Polly brings together “American”
and immigrant
Rosicky & Polly (1)
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Rosicky reassures Polly. See p. 1132, 3rd
para. from bottom: “That kind, reassuring grip
on her elbows. . .”
Rosicky tells the story of his London
experience, in English, for Polly (1136-38)
Polly rescues Rosicky when he suffers a
heart attack, calls him “Father.” See middle of
p. 1140: “Lean on me, Father, hard! Don’t be
afraid.”
Rosicky & Polly (2)
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Rosicky guesses, correctly, that Polly is
pregnant
Polly contemplates Rosicky’s hand. See p.
1141, middle para.
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The hand embodies Rosicky’s gift for loving
people
“It brought her to herself; it communicated some
direct and untranslatable message.”
Framing Consciousness: Doc Ed (1)
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Doctor Ed Burleigh: the first and last
character in the story: framing consciousness
Visits graveyard after Rosicky’s death. See
page 1142, last three para.: “Doctor Ed was
way when Rosicky died. . . .”
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Recalls earlier scene when Rosicky contemplated
graveyard: See p. 1126, final para.: “After they
had gone eight miles. . .” (through p. 1127, para.
3)
Framing Consciousness: Doc Ed (2)
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Why a doctor?
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Cather “played” at being a doctor when she was
young, and wanted to become a doctor
Doc Ed cannot heal Rosicky’s body, but his
consciousness can “patch together” his life and
see it as “complete and beautiful”
Cather, age 13
Rosicky as a work of modernism
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Cather wrote, “the world broke in two in 1922
or thereabouts”
“Neighbour Rosicky” (1928) tries to unify a
broken world through the life a man who
bridges contradictions: immigrant/American;
city/country, etc.
The story is concerned with how Rosicky’s
life gives meaning to others, through
storytelling, the body, and the landscape