Us And Them By David Sedaris
Tuesdays with Harjot Athwal
A) Us and them is a short story by David Sedaris. This short story is told in the first person narrative and it’s about his family’s life in North Carolina. His family moved from the New York state where he lived in the country, to North Carolina, a city. In the country, there were no streetlights, sidewalks, and you couldn’t see anyone for miles. Sedaris compares this life to his life in the city, where even in his house, other homes were visible, as well as the people living in their households. It was difficult for Sedaris to adjust to the new environment, hence he found it challenging to make friends. He hoped that in this new life of his, he could witness some action and thriller, such as murder, however, …show more content…
In this short story, Sedaris describes Mr. Tomkey as someone who “did not believe in television,” which seemed very unusual. However, his relationship with his family seemed friendly; they would have lengthy conversations, tell jokes, and have a great family bonding session at the dinner table, compared to everyone just staring at a television screen. Television can be used positively as a group activity, but it’s the idea of more people using technology as a mean to not interact with others on a personal level. Thus, technology has an impact on how family members interact.
B) During my seventeen years of existence, I learned a valuable lesson that no one is in charge of your happiness except you. I learnt this through one of the most unforgettable downfalls I experienced which was my depression due to the constant need to feel wanted. From trying to make new friends, and continuously moving house to house, it was difficult for a young kid to manage all this stress and all these changes. Hence, the constant need to feel wanted also led to a road of …show more content…
Even though I made an effort to make new friends, I let the countless failures overtake me. The failures made me isolate myself. I was a child, and thought I was not wanted, but it was all in my head. I didn’t know, thus I didn’t talk to anyone about how I felt about not being wanted. No teacher, family member, relative, no one. If I talked to someone, I probably wouldn’t have fallen into depression. I need be responsible for my own happiness and find solutions to my problem, instead of using self-pity as an excuse to be
A) Us and them is a short story by David Sedaris. This short story is told in the first person narrative and it’s about his family’s life in North Carolina. His family moved from the New York state where he lived in the country, to North Carolina, a city. In the country, there were no streetlights, sidewalks, and you couldn’t see anyone for miles. Sedaris compares this life to his life in the city, where even in his house, other homes were visible, as well as the people living in their households. It was difficult for Sedaris to adjust to the new environment, hence he found it challenging to make friends. He hoped that in this new life of his, he could witness some action and thriller, such as murder, however, …show more content…
In this short story, Sedaris describes Mr. Tomkey as someone who “did not believe in television,” which seemed very unusual. However, his relationship with his family seemed friendly; they would have lengthy conversations, tell jokes, and have a great family bonding session at the dinner table, compared to everyone just staring at a television screen. Television can be used positively as a group activity, but it’s the idea of more people using technology as a mean to not interact with others on a personal level. Thus, technology has an impact on how family members interact.
B) During my seventeen years of existence, I learned a valuable lesson that no one is in charge of your happiness except you. I learnt this through one of the most unforgettable downfalls I experienced which was my depression due to the constant need to feel wanted. From trying to make new friends, and continuously moving house to house, it was difficult for a young kid to manage all this stress and all these changes. Hence, the constant need to feel wanted also led to a road of …show more content…
Even though I made an effort to make new friends, I let the countless failures overtake me. The failures made me isolate myself. I was a child, and thought I was not wanted, but it was all in my head. I didn’t know, thus I didn’t talk to anyone about how I felt about not being wanted. No teacher, family member, relative, no one. If I talked to someone, I probably wouldn’t have fallen into depression. I need be responsible for my own happiness and find solutions to my problem, instead of using self-pity as an excuse to be