In his short story, “The Strangers that Came to Town”, Ambrose Flack is showing that true freedom is about being accepted. He does this by showing just how much of an outsider the Duvitch’s are and how that one family spending time with them and accepting them as who they are, makes them so much happier and makes them want to come outside, socialize and not fear being made fun of or being left out.
In the beginning, no one liked the Duvitch’s and they looked down on them and were cruel to them, so they stayed inside and avoided socializing with other people in the neighborhood as much as possible. Andy’s mom brought them food over when they first moved in and Andy stated that “That was our last traffic with the Duvitch family for over two years.” (Anon, 2016) “The women started in on Mrs. Duvitch because she "never showed her face." It is true; she was rarely if ever seen in the daytime, emerging from her dwelling only after dark in warm weather” (Anon, 2016), and when the Duvitch’s children started school Andy stated that “After school they headed straight for home, never lingering on the playground” (Anon, 2016) because of the cruelty of the other student. The Duvitch family was considered outsiders and were ignored and teased by others so they didn’t socialize with anyone and tried to leave any situation where teasing could happen as fast as they could to go back to the safety of their happy home.
Andy’s father was tired of everyone teasing and ignoring the Duvitch family so his boys poisoned the Duvitch’s fish Andy’s father used that as a way to get closer to them to have dinner with them because he was tired of all the senseless feeling about the Duvitch’s and wanted it to end. When Andy’s family go there, “All the Duvitch’s, dressed in their Sunday best, bright and flushed and shining as we had never seen them, received us at the door as if we had been royalty.” (Anon, 2016) The Duvitch’s house was not as Andy and his brother expected, “We found a scantily furnished home that shone with cleanliness and smelled of spicy garden pinks” (Anon, 2016), and the family noticed that the Duvitch’s were much happier at home and were not as bad and everyone thought, “At once we were conscious of a remarkable difference in the demeanor of the family.” (Anon, 2016) The Duvitch’s didn’t present themselves the same in their home as they did out in the community and even though they're poor their home is still nice and clean.
Andy’s family is very well respected in the community so Andy’s family having dinner with them and becoming friends with them made the community more open and nicer to them. The Duvitch’s felt more comfortable outside knowing that their new friendship made it so they were not ignored or teased as much. When Andy’s family was walking home after the nice dinner with the Duvitch family Andy’s father, “murmured as if talking to himself, while we were crossing the street, "that they should turn out to be gentle people of cultivation and accomplishment. Looked down on and ignored by their inferiors!"” (Anon, 2016) when they got home Andy said, “I like to believe that the oil paintings of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, which hung in our living room, helped to establish the Duvitch’s in our community.” (Anon, 2016) An example of the Duvitch’s starting to fit in because of their friendship with Andy’s family, “Mother invited Mrs. Duvitch to a tea party, where her delicate manners, and the fine needlework which engaged her, won the approval of the local housewives who were present.” (Anon, 2016), another example of the Duvitches starting to fit in is, “The children ceased stopping their noses when Mr. Duvitch passed them by and it wasn't long before the young Duvitch’s were able to enjoy outside companionship when they found time to play.” (Anon, 2016) Andy’s family accepted the Duvitch family and the rest of the town started to and they were free to talk to who they wanted, people came to them from help, they could go to others for help, they could go outside and garden, walk home from school or work without out fear of being looked at in unpleasant ways or teased.
People in your community disliking you causes you to be insecure and unhappy in the Duvitch family case they avoided people they were teased at school and no one liked them but one good kind family that was very well liked in the community accepted them and became their friends and the rest of the town started to warm up to them. Not being disliked by your community, looked down on for being poor, and being ignored caused them to be more happy and willing to go outside and socialize. Being accepted by the community the family didn’t feel like they had to stay in their house as much as possible to be happy and not looked down on.
Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/StrangersTown.html [Accessed 11 Jul. 2016].