Class 12 "Neighbours" ( a story) by Tim Winton

 

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.