Us and Them

David Sedaris’s essay, “Us and Them,” is a short story about a society where people are sheltered, greedy, and get all of their information through televisions. After reading the essay, I felt like the story has traces of the novel Fahrenheit 451, where instead of telescreens and big brother, the people watch T.V. all the time instead. The story is about a school-aged kid who has been sheltered for most of his life except for the fact that he, and everyone else, watches T.V. After finding about the Tomkey family, who does not own or “believe” in television, he becomes very interested in their lifestyle. Unlike all of the other families who stay indoors and watch TV all day, they have family values such as talking during dinner and going on trips on their boat. Other neighbors and people around don’t believe that the Tomkey’s don’t have a television and think to themselves, ‘“Maybe they listen to radio, but you can bet your boots they’re doing something’” (Sedaris 1). This gives me the impressions that the author is trying to hint at a future society where everyone is stuck in their own worlds and oppressed due to technology, similarly to Fahrenheit 451.

As the plot goes on it eventually comes to Halloween, the Tomkey family is out on their boat and leaves only gumdrops on the stoop with a sign that says, “DON’T BE GREEDY,” which ultimately leads the kids to put all of the gumdrops in the dog’s bowl next to it. The next day, the Tomkeys oddly go trick-or-treating after Halloween, and the boy now has to give up some of his prized candy. Instead of giving away the “name brand” chocolates which he is allergic too, he stoves it all in his mouth and barely spares any for the family. The boy’s inner thought show his inner greed and narcissism, which may be making a statement that everyone in this society is the same way.

My overall impression of this essay is that it is a work of art rather than entertainment. The essay directly shows how horrible a society would be if everyone was greedy and nosey in an almost sadistic way. A family who enjoys each other’s company is alienated from a neighborhood. The boy would rather eat the candy he is allergic too rather than give it to another family with kids who missed out on Halloween. Each of these shows the negatives of the progression of society, and make the reader fear this type of future situation. Sedaris ultimately makes the reader want to keep and protect the good in society so that one day we all don’t become pigs.

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