Neighbour Rosicky

Mary is Anton Rosicky's wife and, like her husband, a Czech immigrant. Unlike Rosicky, however, she has lived her life entirely in the country and attributes her husband's "gentleness,"a quality she deeply appreciates, to the fact that he is a "city man" (Part II, Paragraph 32).Although this conflicts with Rosicky's own views of urban life, it speaks to the fact that Mary has a realistic view of the hardships of life in rural Nebraska. In any case, she is otherwise deeply in tune with her husband, particularly when it comes to their views on humanity and happiness; for instance, she rejects the idea of earning more money by selling ice cream, on the grounds that doing so would deprive her children of a source of both nutrition and pleasure. All in all, Mary is a practical and plain-spoken woman who nevertheless shares Rosicky's deep-seated generosity and compassion.

Polly is the Rosickys' daughter-in-law, having recently married their eldest son, Rudolph. She is not Czech-American herself, or even from a family of recent immigrants. Combined with the fact that she grew up in a town, this makes her something of an outsider in the Rosicky family, and Rosicky himself worries that she will grow dissatisfied with her life as a farmer's wife, causing Rudolph pain in the process. Early in the story, Polly's appearance and behavior seem to justify this concern; her tweezed eyebrows and bobbed hair give her a relatively sophisticated look, and she is put off by her mother-in-law'searthy demeanor.When Rosicky collapses while working on her farm, however, Polly helps him to bed and tenderly takes care of him, revealing her underlying "sweetness" (Part VI, Paragraph 28).

Rudolph is the oldest of the Rosicky's six children. He now lives on his own farm with Polly, who was impressed enough by his good looks and "gallantry" to overlook her prejudice against marrying a "foreigner" (Part IV, Paragraph 13).The tension between Polly and her in-laws troubles Rudolph, however, as does his relative poverty; he is a "serious" man who wants to have a secure source of income, even if that means abandoning the farm and looking for work in a city (Part IV, Paragraph 33).

"Doctor Ed" is the local physician in "Neighbour Rosicky." He is a caring and observant man who takes a warm interest in his patients, and he is particularly saddened to diagnose Mr. Rosicky with a heart condition, as Doctor Burleigh has known Rosicky since he was a young child, and has always appreciated Rosicky and his wife's generosity and goodwill. In fact, Doctor Burleigh's function in the story is largely that of an outside observer who can confirm the reader's perceptions of Rosicky and his family; at the beginning of the story, Burleigh (correctly) speculates that Rosicky's kindness has gotten in the way of his material advancement in life, and at the end of the story, he reflects that Rosicky's life is "complete and beautiful" on its own terms.