In the short story novel “The Strangers That Came to Town” by Ambrose Flack, the central theme is freedom. There are many different definitions and meanings behind the word freedom; in the case of this short story freedom means being accepted. The Duvitch family, a newly immigrated family from Europe, are limited on their freedom as they are having a hard time being accepted in the community of Syringa. People nearby had no interest in speaking to them, instead made assumptions about them. As a poor family in a wealthy neighbourhood, the society around them sees their poverty as an embarrassment. The central theme of freedom is shown through acceptance, assumptions/lack of communication and poverty.

Throughout the beginning of the novel, Mr. Duvitch and his family were experiencing difficulty moving around town without being …show more content…
No one ever made an effort to communicate with them, leading people to start making assumptions. “Spoke only when spoken to, the young Duvitches, like their parents, were considered antisocial” (Flack 4) as the quote states, the Duvitches were considered antisocial due to the fact they never spoke to anyone unless spoken to. The fact that no one ever talked or made an effort to is the reason why they never had the courage to speak. Instead people assumed they did not want to speak, as proved, “Mother…made no further attempts to see the family…she remarked that she thought the Duvitches wished to be left alone” (Flack 2-3). Not to mention the community had also began to make rumours and assumptions about Mrs. Duvitch simply because she was not see outside too often, “She was rarely…seen in the daytime…this gave rise to the rumor that she was the victim of an obscure skin disease” (Flack 3). To sum up, all the things that the Syringa community assumed about the Duvitch family ultimately affected their