The Strangers That Came To Town By Ambrose Flack

True freedom is about being accepted. This is especially true in the short story, The Strangers That Came to Town by Ambrose Flack as it further proves that freedom because it allows the individual to fully express themselves without retribution. It shows that true freedom is about being accepted. In this story, the Duvitch family is placed in a community where they struggle with acceptance and freedom and this was shown through three major characters: Mr. Duvitch, Mrs. Duvitch and the Duvitch children.

For starters, lack of acceptance to be oneself for Mr. Duvitch caused a cutback on his freedom thus proving that true freedom is about being accepted. The fact that Mr. Duvitch was not accepted within the community was very evident as it was

stated numerous times. For instance, when the narrator explains that “Mr. Duvitch, too, was classified as an untouchable [....] sometimes stopped their noses as they passed him by form of torment all the more acute when Mr. Duvitch [....] (3). This shows that the townspeople looked at Mr. Duvitch as lesser then which did not allow him to live his life freely.Nevertheless, Andy’s father wanted to help Mr. Duvitch gain acceptance in the community so he invited for dinner.For instance, Andy's father said “[...] this senseless feeling against the Duvitch to stop [...] tonight we are having supper with them””(13). Once Andy's father has helped Mr. Duvitch get accepted into the Syringa Street community, Mr. Duvitch retrieves his social liberty and becomes highly involved in the community. Lastly, when invited into the community, Mr. Duvitch obtains the freedom to blossoms into a social butterfly. A perfect example of this was shown when “[...]Overjoyed to have neighbors in his house, he was so full of himself that I was conscious of an invisible stature in him which made him seem quite as tall as Father. He beamed and feasted his eyes on us […..]”(14). This further shows that true freedom is about being accepted, while when accepted Mr. Duvitch shows his true colors and personality.
Secondly, the Duvitch children show that freedom is about being genuinely accepted as they seemed highly anti-social until they were included and accepted by their peers.

At the start of the story, the Duvitch children are not accepted within their peers as the Duvitchs were a very low-income family in a wealthy neighborhood. Many members of the community would often be embarrassed and extremely irritated by the Duvitch children, which caused them to feel rejected. For instance in The Strangers That Came to Town, the narrator explains “[...] poverty, amid prosperity, is often embarrassing and irritating to the prosperous [....].” (3). As the children are not genuinely accepted for who they are, they are not truly free, hence proving that freedom is about being genuinely accepted. Also when the children were rejected by their peers, they become highly uninvolved/uninterested as a result of the lack of acceptance. The children were often bullied and made fun of “[...] some of their classmates scoffed at the leaf[...] after school they headed straight for home, never lingering on the playground.” (4) which made them feel harshly excluded and unwanted. In contrast, the children flourish at the end of the story as they were genuinely accepted which had enabled their freedom. This is proven multiple times, however the most notable ones would be when: “David, invited to play his accordion at a country dance, turned out to be a magician with the instrument and ended up being one of

the community’s most popular players.” (16). Thus proving that when genuinely given someone acceptance you enable their freedom which lets them thrive.
Lastly, in the beginning of the story, the townspeople would talk about Mrs.

Duvitch and say rude things about her like “...never showed her face...”(3). Mrs. Duvitch never honestly felt accepted because people would making assumptions regarding her life. Mrs. Duvitch is rejected by the town, her freedom was restricted and she was unable to openly act the way she would. Also, Mrs. Duvitch proves that this story is about freedom and acceptance because when Andy’s mom included her the rest of the townswoman learn to accept her as well. For instance, the narrator explains that “Mother invited Mrs. Duvitch to a tea party […] won the approval of the local housewives who were present” (15). In addition, Mrs. Duvitch achieves the ability to prosper immensely when she is accepted into the community. This is shown when Mrs. Duvitch is free to explore her talent in nursing, “The community presently had reason to be grateful for Mrs. Duvitch presence[...]” (16). Hence proving that freedom is comes from being accepted and once Mrs. Duvitch has been fully accepted she is fully free and willing to explore her

talents.
To conclude true freedom is about being accepted. This is especially true in the short story, The Strangers That Came to Town by Ambrose Flack. As It shows that true freedom is about being accepted. In this story, the Duvitch family is placed in a community where they struggle with acceptance and freedom and this was shown through three major characters: Mr. Duvitch, Mrs. Duvitch and the Duvitch children.