Neighbour Rosicky

"Neighbour Rosicky" is a short story by the early-20th-century writer Willa Cather. It was first published in 1930, relatively late in Cather's career. Perhaps in part for that reason, "Neighbour Rosicky" is a largely backwards-looking story; it takes place in the final few months of Rosicky's life, fleshing his story out through multiple flashbacks. However, while the tone of "Neighbour Rosicky" is strongly nostalgic, it is not regretful or bitter. On the contrary, Cather uses Rosicky's impending death as an opportunity to reflect on what makes life valuable—most notably, genuine love for others and a capacity to appreciate even simple pleasures. Rosicky has both these traits in abundance, and the story closes on a life-affirming note.

Interwoven with this meditation on the nature of life are two other themes that recur throughout much of Cather's work: life on the American frontier and the immigrant experience.For Cather, these two things were very much intertwined; although her own family originated in Wales and had lived in the United States for several generations, Cather largely grew up in rural Nebraska, which was heavily populated by Czech and Scandinavian immigrants. This period of Cather's life formed the basis for much of her later work, including "Neighbour Rosicky," where she juxtaposes the innocence and traditionof life in the country with the corruption of the city.