Working With Nature - Neighbor Rosicky

Finding Happiness Through Working With Nature


The 1930’s were a period of reflection for many Americans; an era of depression that forced many people to step back and re-evaluate the society in which they lived. After decades of moving away from agrarian America to a more urban, mechanized nation, widespread economic collapse served as the impetus to question this new way of life. What were the consequences of leaving behind agricultural life? How did the technological advances in the workplace distance man from his land and subsequently affect his performance and fulfillment in life? In both Willa Cather’s Neighbor Rosicky and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath we find depression era characters struggling with nature, work, and the relation between the two. Both tales present a compelling case that the further man strays from the natural world, the worse his life becomes.
Neighbor Rosicky is a heartwarming story about a Czech immigrant, raised in the coun...