Neighbours by Tim Winton Summary and Question Answer 

Summary

The story ‘Neighbours’ written by The Australian Literary Award winner short story writer and novelist Tim Winton, is abut a newly married couple living in a multicultural and multilingual suburb neighbourhood. The story shows that cultural and linguistic barriers cannot stop people from bestowing love and compassion.

According to the story, a newly wed couple start living at a new place which is full of European migrants whose language and culture are different from the young couple. The young couple have a small and beautiful house with high ceilings and paned windows that give a feeling of an elegant cottage. The couple have just begun the new phase of their life. They don’t know more about the neighbours. They feel more irritated and disgusted by the behaviours of their neighbours in the beginning. The Macedonian family is too noisy as they are always found to be shouting, ranting and screaming. The next-door neighbour is a Polish widower who spends his whole day hammering nails into wood only to pull them out again. The relations are uncomfortable for many months. The behaviours like spitting and urinating in the street, raising eyebrows at the late rising of the young couple in the morning have irritated to the young couple. The young man lives at house, cooks dinners and spends time writing thesis and the woman goes out for work. This behaviour makes the neighbour feel uncomfortable. 

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In the Autumn, the young couple clear the rubbish and put manure on the soil to plant vegetables. The neighbours gather at the fence and offer their advice about spacing, hilling and mulching although their language is incomprehensible. The big woman with black eyes and butcher arms gave the young woman a bagful of garlic cloves to plant. When the couple start building a henhouse, the Polish widower uninvitedly helps to rebuild it. This behaviour makes the couple feel supported and get close to the neighbours. 

When the young woman is pregnant, the neighbouring men give them the presents of chocolates and packets of cigarettes. Immigrant women show their care, love and sympathy to the pregnant woman. They offer names to the baby being born. The woman next door gives a knitted baby suit. The widower builds car garage, gives them barrowful of wood scarps for fire. 

When it is the time of giving birth, the young man is restless and makes sounds. he finds faces of neighbours attended by the fence. He stops writing thesis and supports his wife doing different works at home. The woman gives birth to a baby. The young man sees a queue of neighbours attended for best wishes and support. Then, the young man begins to weep.

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Reference to the context

a. The story shows that linguistic and cultural barriers don’t create any obstacle in human relationship. Cite some examples from the story where the neighbours have transcended such barriers. 

Ans: The story shows how linguistic and cultural barriers don’t create obstacles in human relationships. The newly wed couple have moved to a new place which is full of European migrants. The young couple’s language and culture is different to that of the neighbours. The society is a mixed-up society in the matter of culture and language. Living in the new place seems to be quite troublesome to the young couple due to linguistic and cultural differences. There are some examples in the story where the neighbours have transcended such barriers.

Despite knowing the language, the young couple follow the advice given by the Macedonian woman. The Polish widower helps to rebuild the henhouse, brings barrowful of wood scraps for fire and builds two-car garage however his language is incomprehensible. During the time of pregnancy, the neighbouring women give her presents of chocolates, cigarettes and baby suit. The neighbours show their love, care and best wishes through their behaviours, gestures and body languages. This shows that language and culture are not obstacles to build a strong human relationship. 

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 last sentence of the story “The twentieth-century novel had not prepared him for this” shows regression and bitter thought that he had leaned nothing about the social behaviours. The life of characters in the novels is different from the life of people in reality. The actual relationship differs in the fiction and reality. The relations in the novel are fictitious that lacks a value of humanity. The young man’s attitude towards his immigrant neighbours in the beginning was negative however he realized on the course of time that language and culture are specific to people and they don’t harm in building human relationships. The man was moved by the caring and supportive behaviours of his migrant neighbours which he had never expected. He realized the value of humanity which is inevitable in human life.  

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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. 

Ans: The most popular Nepali proverb, “ Neighbours are the companions for wedding procession as well as for the funeral procession”. The proverb shows the strength of social relationship. It defines the social harmony is built up by the bond of social relationships. In Nepalese society, the neighbours are self-prepared to provide support at the time of marriage and funeral procession regardless of caste, religion, culture and language. This proverb applies in the story. The newly migrated couple get even smaller help at the new place. They are cared, supported and helped by the neighbours. The Macedonian family provides every time help to them. The Macedonian woman helps the couple in their kitchen garden by giving suggestions, different materials and seeds for planting vegetables. the Polish widower helps to rebuild the henhouse when he sees, it is not properly being built. The neighbours don’t only help the couple at problem but also at the happiest and joyous moments. The neighbours come to celebrate to their happiness. At the time of birth of a baby, the neighbours gather outside of their home, incase the couple might have problem. These behaviours show that “ Neighbours are the companions for wedding procession as well as for the funeral procession”

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 an issue in the modern world. It the situation when more than two ethnic and cultural groups live at a place. The people living in a community have their own cultural and linguistic identity which they love to preserve and pay respect to it. There is a danger in multiculturalism that a matter of discrimination may occur. People seem to be reluctant on others’ culture and traditions. They don’t show their interest in others’ affairs as they as they love individualism. The society becomes weaker if cultural gap occurs among many cultures. The cultural discrimination leads a society to racial and ethnic fragmentation which creates racial chaos, conflicts and apartheid. Multiculturalism should be abode by for a healthy society where there is no discrimination on the basis of caste and creed, religion and traditions. It is a global issue because if the norms and values of multiculturalism are mishandled, it surely brings social and cultural conflict among the people of different cultures.

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About the Author:

Tanka Bhattarai is a Second class Secondary Level English teacher currently teaching at Shahid Smriti Secondary School, Dharan, Sunsari. He is also an MToT of Education Training Centre, Koshi Province.