Textual Analysis
Anthony Just Who is Us and Who is Them? “It occurred to me that they needed a guide, someone who could accompany them through the course of an average day and point out all the things they were unable to understand. I could have done it on weekends but friendships would have taken away their mystery and interfered with the good feeling I got from pitying them. So I kept my distance. “ In today’s society many times kids are influenced by the actions of their parents and other adult figures in their life.
Such is the case in David Sedaris memoir “Us and Them” young David reflects on his life coming up as a child in the country in New York State. After reading “Us and Them,” a memoir written by David Sedaris, I was forced to think back and look at my life and the way I view others. In this memoir young David reflects back to his childhood and when he was force to really open his eyes so to say and take a good look at himself.
The story starts by telling how David moved often and adopted his mother’s attitude and views that there isn’t any point in getting too close to people that they would have to say goodbye too, and pretend that not making friends is a conscious choice. David overhears a friend of his mother say, “Mr. Tomkey doesn’t believe in television. “ Once he finds out that the family next door lives a content life without owning or watching a television young David becomes obsessed with the Tomkey family and begins to spy on them. The Tomkeys become television for David.
He begins to feel that the Tomkeys are at a disadvantage and have to be lost in a world of television watchers. I felt the title “Us and Them” was given to this memoir to get the reader to take a look at the way they view others and notice faults but can’t notice the very things about themselves. For example the author recalls Halloween and how he had looked forward to going in disguise to the Tomkey’s house, but they were out of town. However they had left a coffee can full of gumdrops on the front porch with a sign reading: DON’T BE GREEDY.
David and his sister felt insulted by the note. However the next day when the Tomkeys got back they brought their kids to David’s house to Trick-or-Treat. “I attributed their behavior to the fact they didn’t have a TV, but television didn’t teach you everything, Asking for candy on Halloween is called “trick-or-treating” but asking for it in November is called begging, and it made people uncomfortable. This was one of the things you were supposed to learn simply by being alive, and it angered me that the Tomkeys did not understand that,” said David.
His mother told David and his sisters to go get some of their candy to share with the Tomkey children and Ironically David has a bag with the words: MY CANDY! KEEP OUT! This particular incident stock out to me because David and his sister took such offense to the note on the Tomkey’s porch but has those words written across his candy bag. I felt Sedaris wanted the reader to pick up on that because that’s during the time his mother made him open his eyes.
I related this to my life and I thought back to times that I heard something from word of mouth about a person or a group and without even giving the person(s) a chance I form my opinion and that just isn’t right. I was also able to think back to some of the things my parents and grandparents taught me and how they would always refer to our beliefs in comparison to the beliefs of others. Another incident that stuck out to me was once David’s mom told them to get the candy neither of the kids returned with any Halloween candy to share.
David however went through great lengths to keep the Tomkey’s from getting any of his candy even though he was allergic to chocolate. Once his mom came to his room to get the candy from him he crammed as much as he could in his mouth and begin to break and destroy the other things he got to keep the Tomkey kids from getting them. This right here shows selfishness and greed on David’s behalf. However that’s when his mom said something key to him that stuck with him and made him think about his ways. You should look at yourself,” she said. “ I mean really look at yourself. ” After the candy incident David’s pity for the Tomkeys became something ugly all because of that one act. “The shift was gradual, but immediate, and it provoked an uncomfortable feeling of loss. We hadn’t been friends, the Tomkeys and I, but still I had given them the gift of my curiosity. Wondering about them made me feel generous, but now I would have to shift gears and find pleasure in hating them;” states David.
This shows that David for some reason felt above/better than the Tomkey’s all because his family owns and watches TV so they must be normal is the mindset David had but after finally thinking about what his mother told him about looking at his own self he was able to see that he was the one that wasn’t right and was making himself seem lower than the Tomkeys. In conclusion I feel that this memoir was beneficial to read because it allowed me the opportunity to look at my life and some of the decisions I’ve made and take a good look at myself to see just who I consider “Us and Them” to be.
