The Strangers That Came To Town Theme

Everyone wants to be accepted. Everyone deserves freedom. In Ambrose Flack’s novel, The Strangers That Came to Town, acts of intolerance are brought to light in the life of the main character named Andy, when a family of Russian immigrants move into his neighbourhood. In his short story, The Strangers That Came to Town, Ambrose Flack is showing that true freedom is about being accepted. The Strangers That Came to Town’s central theme is of freedom from the beginning, the middle, and the end of this compelling narrative.
The beginning of the narrative instantly draws the reader into the world of two children named Andy and Tom. These two American brothers are anticipating the arrival of their new neighbours, the Duvitch family, who are immigrants from Europe. When the family does arrive, the two children yell and send their mother “hurr[ying] in from the kitchen” (1), where all “three [of them] looked out” (1) at the Duvitches. As the family attempted to settle in, gossip and prejudice filled the neighbourhood of Syringa Street.

The disrespect the Duvitch family faces from their so-called “neighbourly” acquaintances cease when the roles are reversed and Andy and Tom’s father is angry at his children. The intolerance began when “Tom and [Andy], Philistines like [their] friends, ignored the Duvitch boys” (5). It escalated when the pair of children discussed an evil plan to poison the future meals of the Duvitches, when “without considering further, [Andy] dropped the cake of soap into the tub of fish.” (6). Moreover, the children (and the reader) feel the familiar wrath when their father angrily tell them how “in certain primitive communities the sort of stunt [they]’ve pulled would be punishable by death” (6). After this final bout of anger, the Duvitches are welcomed into the community with a little help, seen in the end of the