Neighbour Rosicky by Willa Cather

Neighbour Rosicky
By Willa Cather (pg 1831-1852)

At first glance, Neighbour Rosicky appears to be a short story about a farmer and his family; however, there is much more beneath the surface. Rosicky is a representation of immigrants, in general. He is the epitome of the “American Dream,” with slight alterations. The “American Dream” is supposed to be about having a loving spouse with 2 children, a little dog, and a white picket fence; however, people have added in wealth and larger houses to the original simple dream.

Rosicky is a very family oriented man, and feels himself to be of no use unless he is working. Cather writes about Rosicky as a sort of emblem for the human race which is becoming lazy and degenerated. Modernist writers see that people have changed their “American Dreams” to be about greed, and their lives are not simple, people are becoming more corrupt, as a whole, and not fixating on the important, simple things in life. Rosicky ...