Parallels Between Romanticism and Willa Cather’s World in Neighbor Rosicky Anonymous College

Willa Cather’s romanticism shines through in all of her works highlighted in Great Books of the British and American Tradition. Readers today still credit her for helping a seemingly ordinary American landscape come to life in her short stories. In Neighbor Rosicky particularly, there are several characteristics of romanticism that come together to make this short story a timeless and heartfelt classic. Neighbor Rosicky has an important overarching theme of “what makes a human whole,” and in this theme, Cather brings up the impacts of living in the city versus the country and, consequently, of humanity versus materialism. Through her writing, she not only touches on this theme with beautiful characteristics of American romanticism, she also makes the story even more meaningful by tying in specific ideas from her own life.

Cather emphasizes the internal conflict concerning life in the city versus life in the country. One main point of contention is the figurative war between materialism and a life of simplicity. Cather highlights Anton Rosicky’s transition from hardships in the city as a tailor to a more easy-going lifestyle as a farmer in Nebraska. Once experiencing culture, toil, and poverty while working in various tailoring...