Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Neighbour Rosicky, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Good Life
The City vs. The Country
Family, Community, and Kindness
Money vs. Happiness
Summary
Analysis
It’s Christmas Eve, and the Rosicky family is all together, Mary baking and Rosicky tailoring. Rosicky thinks back to his time living in London, many years before. He was 18 and poor, and he didn’t speak English. He moved hoping to live with a cousin, but the cousin had moved to the U.S. by the time Rosicky got there. He met Lifschnitz, a poor German tailor, and got work from him—although it seemed that Lifschnitz only hired him out of pity. Lifschnitz also offered him a room to sleep in, and so Rosicky shared a room with another lodger—a poor violin player—while Lifschnitz and his wife and children slept upstairs. The entire home was very dirty, bug-infested, crowded, and noisy. Rosicky felt hopeless.
Rosicky was initially resistant to even privately think back to his difficult life in London. But as the story progresses, he becomes more capable of remembering and sharing his experiences with his family—perhaps because he realizes that he’s growing old and has a limited time to share his experiences with his loved ones. Rosicky’s life in London—alienated from other people and stuck in an unpleasant environment—gives insight into why he is so much happier now. Living in the country, he has his own his own land, his own livelihood, and a large circle of loving family and friends.
Themes
Back in the present, Polly and Rudolph come over to the Rosicky home for dinner. At dinner, Rosicky’s children complain about the lack of snow that day and worry that it will lead to crop failure and struggle. Rosicky retorts that the children have never suffered real hard times and never will, because they have their own land, warm food, clothes, and shelter. But Rudolph argues that he needs more than just those things—he needs more money, or else he will need to quit farming for a better-paying job in a city.
Rosicky’s retort about hard times makes it clear that this topic is a charged one for him. He is still a gentle, patient man who does not berate his children but rather asserts his viewpoint—that their life in Nebraska is far better than any other life in a city. Still, Rudolph’s weariness of farm work and temptation to move to the city shows that financial insecurity is a pervasive concern for everyone; it isn’t easy to have Rosicky’s contented point of view.
Themes
Mary sits down at the table and tells Rudolph that she isn’t scared of struggling financially, because Rosicky has always pulled them through. She remembers a hot Fourth of July several years before, when Rosicky had abruptly stopped working. He asked Mary to prepare a big, delicious dinner for them and decided to go play in the horse tank’s water with his children. He hopped in naked and splashed in the water with his kids. While they played, a Methodist preacher showed up to pray for rain for the crop, and he was shocked to see Rosicky playing naked in the horse tank with his kids. Mary watched from the kitchen and laughed at the preacher’s astonishment.
Rosicky’s ability to appreciate life is clear in this memory, as is the sense of freedom he feels on his own land. In contrast to Rosicky’s cramped, uncomfortable life in London, the family’s life on their farm is liberating and fun. Once again, Rosicky’s playful, carefree disposition clearly contrasts with most other people, as the Methodist preacher is surprised to see a grown man playing in the water with his children. But Rosicky likes to live life joyfully, even if it makes him stand out.
Themes
Later, the Rosickys had their picnic in the orchard, and Rosicky revealed there has been corn crop failure throughout the county. Mary was shocked—this meant that they won’t see any profits for their hard work. But Rosicky responded that this is exactly why they had to have a celebratory picnic—to enjoy what they did have, instead of what they didn’t. In the present, as Mary tells this story to her children, she says that this is what makes Rosicky so special. All the other neighbors take crop failure as a horrific tragedy, but Rosicky always enjoys life and appreciates what he has, even in difficult times.
Rosicky’s happy disposition doesn’t just happen naturally—he makes choices to respond to life with joy rather than sorrow, even when things don’t go exactly as planned. This value, in turn, is part of what makes his life enjoyable and fulfilling. Consequently, even though he has limited financial resources to offer to his family, he has an abundance of love and emotional care that he can give to them instead. Based off the family’s happiness, these things seem more valuable and long-lasting than material goods.
Themes
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After Mary’s story, Rudolph privately thinks that even if their neighbors were unhappy, at least they achieved more financial success. He wonders what Polly thinks of his family and worries that she finds them to be embarrassing, lower class people, separated from her by their immigrant status.
Rudolph’s concern about letting Polly down prevents him from fully understanding his parents’ stories. He is so insecure about his first-generation immigrant upbringing, and his family’s lack of money, that he doesn’t internalize the life lessons in his mother’s story about Rosicky.
Themes
Rosicky decides to tell everyone about his hard times living in London. He decides to tell the story in English, rather than Czech (even though this is harder for him), because he wants Polly to understand the story too. He talks about being poor and working for the tailor shop at Christmastime. On Christmas Eve, Mrs. Lifschnitz barely fed him because she was saving food for Christmas dinner. Rosicky tried to sleep through the night and ignore his hunger, but he smelled food and discovered a roast goose hidden away for dinner the next day. He tried to take just a small bite of it but was so hungry that he ate half the goose. Ashamed, he walked into the streets, trying to figure out how he could face Mrs. Lifschnitz after ruining her work.
Rosicky wants Polly to hear the story because, despite her coldness to him, he considers her part of the family. Just as he wants his sons to take after his value system, he wants the same for Polly. Rosicky’s moment of crisis, when he eats Mrs. Lifschnitz’s roast goose, reveals that his patience depends on having his basic needs met. In this way, having his own farm and being able to provide for himself and his family (as opposed to depending on other people) is what allows Rosicky to be the contented, even-tempered person he is in his old age.
Themes
Rosicky walked the streets of London, his heart hurting with guilt, and ran into four Bohemians—two men and two women—whom he heard speaking Czech. He was so desperate that he begged them for money to buy a new goose. The Bohemians were kind to him—they got him something to eat and drink, as well as money. Rosicky used the money to buy a new goose and extra food for the Lifschnitz family and surprised the whole family and the violin player with it the next day, giving them an unexpected, bountiful meal.
Throughout the story, Rosicky’s emotional heart has remained strong, even as his physical heart is failing. This memory of being ashamed of eating Mrs. Lifschnitz’s goose, then, contrasts with the rest of the story, as Rosicky’s internal guilt over betraying her trust causes him to feel actual pain. Rosicky’s wounded heart can then only be healed after he receives kindness from other people—the other Czech immigrants who charitable to him. Their generosity is what, in turn, allows Rosicky himself to be generous to others, buying food for the Lifschnitz family and the violin player also boarding with them. This shows how kindness is something that is paid forward and passed on, a value that Rosicky clearly still holds in the present.
Themes
A few days after that Christmas, Rosicky ran into the Bohemian men, and they offered to pay for his travel to New York, where they thought he would have better luck. He agreed to go and left for New York shortly thereafter. Back in the present, after the Rosickys have finished dinner, Rudolph leaves happily with Polly. She seems to have a newfound appreciation for his family and even wants to invite them over for New Year’s Eve.
The other Czech immigrants look out for Rosicky, helping him leave London and go to the U.S. Now, the older Rosicky looks out for others in this same way. His story makes a strong impression on Polly, showing that Rosicky’s effort to include her made a difference after all—she seems more eager to be part of the family after he’s finished telling his story.
Themes
