The Tomkey's

The Tomkey's and the narrator's family were two families that at the surface lived completely different lives from each other. The author in one way pitied the Tomkey's and how they lived their socially unacceptable lifestyle because the Tomkey's did not own a television. However, we find the narrator spying on the Tomkeys day after day and in a way becoming jealous and curious on what the Tomkeys do instead of watching television like the rest of the white collared families in the town. Whether it was television or the narrator's family constant moving something drove them apart and did not seem to give them as strong as a bond as the Tomkey's had. The Tomkey's were socially unacceptable people who did not believe in television and believed it was normal for a family to go trick-or-treating on November 1st. However the narrators family were also considered strange because they did not believe in making friends because of the changing of living environments. We also see the Tomkey's posting on their sad excuse for candy a sign labeling "Don't be greedy" as the narrator later on in the passage stuffs his face with the candy he received the night before. At the surface we view these two families as living completely different lives and not having the same bonds between their loved ones in the households. However we also see that this passage shows the reader how mass media such as television, radio, and the newspaper really effect people. Because the Tomkey's did not own a television and did not "believe" in owning one they were considered outcasts to the rest of the families in town. The Tomkey's wanted to be different than the other families in town and show them that it is okay to be different and not own a television and to go trick-or-treating on November 1st. Both the narrator's families and the Tomkey's show that households have different beliefs and that it acceptable to be different and learn through the experiences of others.