Summary
The short story "Neighbors" was written by an Australian novelist Tim Winton. The story depicts that linguistic and cultural barriers do not create any obstacle in human relationship. It also tells us how much neighbors are important for us, no matter what their culture and tradition is. They all become like a part of the same family when we are living together in the same society. When a newly married young couple first comes to their new home, they feel strange because of the new place and neighborhood. They find themselves among a large number of European immigrants. At first, they (new couple) feel uncomfortable having to listen to their next-door neighbors' loud conversations, a Macedonian family, and the hammering of their other next-door neighbor, a Polish widower, among other things. The young couple’s house is small but it has a high ceiling and panned window which give them the feel of the stylist cottage. Before coming to a new home, he used to live in a residential area where goodneighbors were seldom seen and never heard. So, they assumed their new neighboris same. At first, the young couples have prejudices and dislikes about their neighbors. They start to notice the strange and even unpleasant customs of their new neighborhood.
In the autumn season, the young couple cleared rubbish from their backyard and began planting the garden with a variety of vegetables. The neighbors suggested the young man the way of planting vegetables. A neighbor woman even gave the young woman a bag of garlic cloves to plant. After sometime, the young couple built a henhouse for their chickens but it fell down. A polish man who disturbed him at the beginning came without invitation and rebuilt it. They didn’t understand the word he spoke after helping because of their difference in their language. Now, they share their things with their neighbors like cabbage, firewood etc. and they assist each other in the work.
The young couple in this case grows fond of their new neighbors and, after their initial adjustment phase, they discover that most of their neighbors are not bad people. Even though the couple had not planned for a pregnancy, it happens and is discovered within a short period of time. Once a lady knows she is pregnant, the people around her find out and shower her with gifts and advice. This encourages the entire community to speak with them and provide help to them. Thus the young couple is satisfied with their new neighbors and they feel happy. Following the birth of their kid, all of their neighbors are pleased for them and wish them the best. The young guy learns at the story's end that 20th-century literature had not prepared him for this. The two have become comfortable when the entire community comes together to celebrate the arrival of their new kid. They are surprised by the uncontrolled love that greets them.
The main purpose of this short story is to communicate the message of the importance of creating a peaceful atmosphere with one’s neighbors.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. a.) Describe
how the young couple’s house looked like.
Ans. The young couple’s house was small, but its high
ceilings and panned windows gave it the feel of an elegant cottage. From his
study window, the young man could see out over the rooftops and car yards where
he, with his wife walked his dogs.
b. b.) How
did the young couple identify their neighbours in the beginning of their
arrival?
Ans. In the beginning of their
arrival, the young couple recognized their neighbours as barbarous,
inconsiderate and uncomfortable. The Macedonian family shouted, ranted,
screamed while talking with themselves. The old polish spent most of his day
hammering nails into wood. A little boy next door urinated in the street. He
stood at the fence with only his cobalt eyes that made the young man nervous.
The neighbours lacked sanitation. Moreover, the neighbours interfered while the
young couple were farming in the backyard.
c. c.) How
did the neighbours help the young couple in the kitchen garden?
Ans. When the young couple started
their backyard cultivation, their neighbours came to offer advice about
spacing, hilling and mulching of vegetable plants such as leeks, onions,
cabbage, beans, Brussels sprouts. A woman gave the couple a bagful of garlic
cloves to plant. This is how the neighbours helped the young couple in the
kitchen garden.
d. d.) Why
were the people in the neighbourhood surprised at the role of the young man and
his wife in their family?
Ans.
The young man stayed at home because he worked steadily at his thesis on
the development of 20th century novel. It was unknown to his villagers. His wife worked at a hospital to financially
run the family. As the neighbours saw the young man staying at home and doing
household works and his wife going out for work, they were surprised at the
role of the young man and his wife in their family.
e.) How
did the neighbours respond to the woman’s pregnancy?
Ans.
When the neighbours knew about the woman’s pregnancy, they smiled
tirelessly at the couple. One neighbour gave her small presents of chocolates
and him packets of cigarettes. Some women told her that she would definitely
give birth to a son. One woman had knitted the baby a suit. The polish man came
over a barrowful of wood scrapes for their fire. This is how the neighbours
respond to the woman’s pregnancy.
f. f.) Why
did the young man begin to weep at the end of the story?
Ans. At the end of the story, the young man began to weep seeing the unconditional love and care for him and his wife. In the beginning of their coming, they had been annoyed by the activities of their neighbours. Later the young man realized that his neighbours were never bad to them. Rather, they helped the young couple by all possible ways.
g. Why do you think the author did not characterize the persons in the
story with proper names?
Ans. I think the author did not
characterize the persons in the story with proper names partly because he
wanted to put the narrative in general category and partly because he wanted to
show through the story that the proper names would create disparity among
people of different cultures and languages and could stop them from bestowing
love and compassion.
Reference to the context
a. The story shows that linguistic and cultural
barriers do not create any obstacle in human relationship. Cite some examples
from the story where the neighbours have transcended such barriers.
Ans. In the story, the neighbours
belong to different countries. They have different cultures. They speak
different languages. However, the neighbours have transcended their linguistic
and cultural barriers. They do not create any obstacle in human relation
relationship. They are prompt to help one another in need. We can cite some
examples from the story.
“When the young couple start planting
vegetables in the kitchen garden, their neighbours come to offer advice about
spacing, hilling, mulching. One woman gave some garlic to plant.”
“The Macedonian family show the young
couple how to slaughter and to pluck and to dress the birds.”
“When the news of the young man’s
wife’s pregnancy come in the neighbourhood, people smile tirelessly at them.
The couple are given gifts, new clothes, blessings and so on.”
“The polish man brings some wood
scraps for fire to warm the newly born baby and its mother.”
“When the child is born, the
neighbours cheer up.”
b. The last sentence of
the story reads “The twentieth-century novel had not prepared him for this.” In
your view, what differences did the young man find between twentieth-century
novels and human relations?
Ans. The young couple had recently
migrated in a multicultural and multilingual suburb neighbourhood. They had
expected a peaceful living there. But their expectations were wrong. They found
their neighbours noisy, filthy, interfering and traditional in the beginning.
Time went on passing. When they started their vegetable plantation at the
backyard, their neighbours came to offer advice about spacing, hilling,
mulching. One woman gave them some garlic to plant. In winter, their neighbours
gave them grappa and firewood. In the winter the couple tamed some birds. Their
neighbours came to show them how to slaughter and to pluck and to dress. Above
all, when the young man’s wife gave the news of her pregnancy, the entire
neighbours smiled. They brought gifts. They had wished her to have a son child.
They cheered at the child birth.
The young man was writing his thesis
on the development of 20th century novel which focused on modern life style
that was based upon split families and self-centeredness. The twentieth-century novel had not prepared
him for this that he would get such love, care and help from his neighbours.
In my view, the young man found vast
differences between twentieth-century novels and human relations. He found
human relations far more realistic than the writings in the 20th century
novels.
c. A
Nepali proverb says “Neighbours are companions for wedding procession as well
as for funeral procession.” Does this proverb apply in the story? Justify.
Ans. The Nepali proverb, “Neighbours
are companions for wedding procession as well as for funeral procession.”
focuses on the importance of having neighbours. When marriage ceremony takes
place in any Nepalese family, neighbours become happy and they go to offer
their helps. If there is death in any family, they share grief and involve in
funeral procession. The same proverb applies in the story, “Neighbours, “too.
When the young couple started their
vegetable plantation at the backyard, their neighbours came to offer advice
about spacing, hilling, mulching. One woman gave them some garlic to plant. In
winter, their neighbours gave them grappa and firewood. In the winter the
couple tamed some birds. Their neighbours came to show them how to slaughter
and to pluck and to dress. Above all, when the young man’s wife gave the news
of her pregnancy, the entire neighbours smiled. They brought gifts. They had
wished her to have a son child. They cheered at the child birth.
d. The author has dealt
with an issue of multiculturalism in the story. Why do you think
multiculturalism has become a major issue in the present world?
Ans.
Multiculturalism is the presence of several distinct cultural or ethnic
groups within a society. All around the world, countries and societies are
becoming increasingly multicultural beliefs and ways of life. Multiculturalism
has become a major issue in the present world. It is reposing political
conflicts. It is stressing diversity. The ancestral societies are losing their
identities. It’s happening in France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and some other
western countries. Multiculturalism is creating tension between people with
different cultural backgrounds. People are facing language problems,
assimilation problems, ethnic segregation, unemployment, crimes and so on.
Above all, if multiculturalism pervades, it will take people to degradation and
catastrophe, and to losing all the great valuable strata, that were gathered by
many generations of their people.
Reference beyond the text
a. a. Write
an essay on Celebration of Childbirth in my Community.
Celebration of Childbirth in my Community
Child birth takes place in every
community. However, the modes of celebration of childbirth differ from
community to community. Rituals are different.
They are determined by castes, religions, social norms and values.
I belong to Tharu community. When a
child is born in our community, the mother is treated as the most important
one. She is given special regard, love and care. The family members pray to God
to give good health to both the child and the mother. All neighbours smile.
They come to congratulate the family especially the mother. They shower the
blessings to the newly born baby. The mother and baby are given new clothes to
wear. The elderly and experienced women come to give ample advice to the mother
to look after the child. On the other
hand, the father of the child is hoisted and tossed up by the neighbours. The
males of the family go to the relatives to give the good news of the child
birth. They come with gifts. On the sixth day of the child birth, some rituals
are conducted at the presence of a Purohit. The neighbours are invited to the
huge meal party. There is singing and dancing in the party.
Thus, the child birth in my community
is celebrated with enthusiasm. The child birth heralds the happiness to the
family. It is a Prasad from the God.
b. b. Do
the people in your community respond with similar reactions upon the pregnancy
and childbirth as depicted in the story? Give a couple of examples.
Yes, the people in my community also
respond with similar reactions upon the pregnancy and childbirth as depicted in
the story.
When the neighbours get the news of a woman’s
pregnancy, they come to meet the woman or her family member to advise how to
maintain good health of the pregnant woman and her growing fetus. They
recommend rich food for the woman. They predict the child to be male or female
as per the intention of the spouse.
When the child is born, the neighbours
express happiness. They smile. They come with gifts, fruits, clothes, etc.
Thank - you!!💝∞
