Summary
"Neighbours"
by Tim Winton is a short story that explores themes of cultural integration,
acceptance, and the evolving nature of community through the experiences of a
young, newly married couple. The story is set in a multicultural neighborhood,
where the couple initially feels out of place among their diverse neighbors,
including immigrants from various backgrounds. Their initial discomfort is
evident in their reactions to the unfamiliar customs, languages, and behaviors
of those living around them.
As time passes, the
couple begins to connect with their neighbors in small but significant ways.
They receive help and kindness from the people they once regarded with
suspicion or indifference. This gradual shift in their attitude culminates in a
moment of mutual support and celebration when the wife gives birth, and the
entire neighborhood comes together to offer their congratulations and
assistance. Through these interactions, the couple realizes the richness and
value of their diverse community, leading to a newfound sense of belonging and
appreciation for their neighbors. Winton's story highlights the transformative
power of empathy and the importance of embracing cultural differences in
building strong, inclusive communities.
Alternative summary
Tim
Winton's "Neighbours" is a short story about a young couple who just
got married and moved. In their new place, they see a lot of European migrants.
Initially, they are disgusted by what their neighbours do. A Macedonian family
next door and a Polish widower next door make them angry.
They attempt to
avoid them. Their new neighbours do things that are a little weird and a little
dirty, which makes them a little uneasy at first. People in the next door don't
like that their dog is outside or that the young man stays inside while his wife
works outside. People in the young couple's neighborhood help them out
over time. They help with their kitchen garden and henhouse. Now, they are
happy and love their neighbours. In their minds, the people next to them aren't
bad. They start to talk and learn with their neighbours. They are happy to live
there.
When
the young woman gets pregnant, her neighbours start cheering and giving her
help, gifts, and advice right away. Everyone in the neighborhood is having a
good time. The young couple hasn't been used to it. He is shocked when his
neighbours welcome a new baby boy. Finally, the young man weeps as his
neighbours cheer for his baby's birth. He realizes that the view of migrants is
wrong. The story shows that people from different countries can
live together happily even though they speak different languages, have
different customs, and live different lives. Human relationships are more
important than anything else.
Understanding
the text
Answer the following questions.
a. Describe how the young couple’s house looked like.
The young
couple’s house was small, but it’s high ceiling and paned windows gave it the
feel of an elegant cottage. From his study window the young man could see out
over the rooftops and used car yards the Moreton Bay figs in the park where
they walked their dog.
b. How did the young couple identify their neighbours in the beginning
of their arrival?
The young
couple identify their neighbours in the beginning of their arrival by the sound
of spitting, washing and day break watering.
c. How did the neighbours help the young couple in the kitchen garden?
The
neighbours helped the young couple in the kitchen garden by advising them about
spacing, hilling, mulching and providing the bagful of garlic cloves for
planting.
d. Why were the people in the neighborhood surprised at the role of the
young man and his wife in their family?
The people in
the neighborhood were surprised at the role of the young man and his wife
because his wife used to do work in hospital while he used to live in the house
working on his thesis and cook for his wife when she return back home.
e. How did the neighbours respond to the woman’s pregnancy?
The
neighbours responded to the woman’s pregnancy by smiling tirelessly. The man in
the deli gave her small presents of chocolates and him packets of cigarettes.
In the summer, Italian women began to offer names. Greek women stopped the
young woman in the street, pulled her skirt up and felt her belly, telling her
it was bound to be a boy. By late summer the woman next door had knitted the
baby a suit, complete with booties and beanie and the Polish widower next door
had almost finished his two-car garage.
f. Why did the young man begin to weep at the end of the story?
The young man
began to weep at the end of the story because he was greatly touched by the
help of neighbours which wasn’t expected by him due to the human feelings of
neighbours towards them.
g. Why do you think the author did not characterize the persons in the
story with proper names?
I think the
author didn’t characterize the persons in the story with proper names because
he wants to generalize the case not to specific person but also for the every
person who are culturally and linguistically from different society. So the writer
makes the couple for the universal character and he tries to share his idea
that in neighborhood, humanity remains even after having different languages
and cultural norms.
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.
The story
shows that linguistic and cultural barriers do not create any obstacle in human
relationship. Humanity and love is one of the feelings that link the persons.
It doesn’t look race, caste, language, nationality, culture or language. The
love, respect and kindness of a person towards other beautify the person or show
a real person. In this story also, due to different languages there was some
misunderstandings on newly couples towards their neighbours. But when they were
in problems the neighbours helped them a lot. Some examples where the neighbours
have transcended such barriers are as follows:
1. In spite of the different languages and
cultures, the neighbours gave advice to the young couple about spacing, hilling
and mulching the vegetables in the kitchen garden.
2. The polish widower rebuilt the falling henhouse
of the young couple although they didn’t understand his words.
3. The young couple offered heads of cabbage and
took gifts of grapes and firewood from neighbours.
4. The neighbour’s gifted chocolates knitted the
baby a suit when the couples were going to be parents.
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?
In my view,
the young man as the writer used to think that the people in twentieth were
selfish and helpless and his thought become true for sometimes when he had just
shifted to the new community. The people of the community are noisy and
annoying. They used to make noises and shout each others. Even the small kids
also have poor sanitation. But when he and his wife need small help too, all
the neighbours helped them without saying a word. He found the huge difference
between his thinking and reality. His thinking changed and he said that the
novel for which he was researching had not prepared for him.
c. A Nepali proverb says “Neighbors are companions for wedding
procession as well as for funeral procession.” Does this proverb apply in the
story? Justify.
Yes, this
proverb applies in the story. Neighbours are the real companions of life who
keep on passing their lives with us in various situations. Neighbours are need
in every step of life no matter joy or sorrow. They are the companions for
wedding procession as well as a funeral procession. Here in the story, we find
the nieghbours involvement in various events. The story has mainly focused on
three close neighbours who are seen living their lives sharing and caring for each
other. We find the concept of share, care and help among the neighbours in the
story. During the pregnancy, the young woman was cared, assured, and presented
gifts by people of her neighborhood. These neighbours are seen passing time
teaching each other, enjoying and shouting, living in a neighborhood. Thus
neighbours in the story are seen as the best companions as mentioned in the
proverb.
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?
Multiculturalism
is the way in which a society deals with cultural diversity, both at the
national and at the community level. Multiculturalism can take place on a
nationwide scale or within a nation’s communities. It may occur either
naturally through immigration, or artificially when jurisdictions of different
cultures are combined.
I think multiculturalism has become a major issue
in the present world because along with making people of different ethnic and
cultural backgrounds together, it invites various social problems such as
failure to assimilate, ethnic segregation, and adaptation issues such as school
dropout, unemployment, and high crime rates etc. Also, migration is another
reason for multiculturalism. People travel across different places of different
countries and they settle in any place where they get proper facilities and job
due to which multicultural peoples are found in same city or region. Due to
this many peoples in neighborhood don’t know each other and the relation, love,
compassion between the neighbours found in the past days are not found in the
present days. In this way, multiculturalism has become a major issue in the
present world.
No comments:
Post a Comment