"It was a vehicle of necessity."- Explain.

The Ox by H.E Bates is a short story not about the beast of burden, the ox but about the tragedy of Mrs. Thurlow. Here 'it' refers to Mrs. Thurlow's soul companion bicycle. The significance of the bicycle in Mrs. Thurlow's life and draudgery is here indicated.

          Mrs. Thurlow, the main character of the story, worked hard to save her family of her husband and two sons. In her life of unbroken drudgery, her unfailing companion was her bicycle. The bicycle was old, rusty, hardly cleaned or repaired, but very much essential to her life. The bixycle was always loaded, but could never be ridden. She used to carry grey bundle of clothes, oilcans, sacks, cabbages, bundles of old newspapers, boughs of wind blown wood and bags of chicken food in her 'rusty' bicycle. We use the bicycle for our comfort, for our luxury, but Mrs. Thurlow used it to serve her necessity, the bicycle was no element of luxury to her.

           This line signifies much truth of Mrs. Thurlow's life of drudgery. The expression 'vehicle of necessity' is deeply meaningful in the assessment of the nature of Mrs. Thurlow's life of drudgery. Bates emphasizes here Mrs. Thurlow's approach to her bicycle.