Childhood Classics
Failed by their parents, the Herdman kids are also failed by the school system. Their teachers look at them as something to be endured until they can be shuffled along to become someone else's problem rather than even attempting to reach them or deal with their educational issues. While this may be understandable, it's definitely not helpful, especially since it becomes obvious that, when their interest is engaged, the Herdmans are capable- and even eager- to learn. For example, when they become interested in King Herod, they take it upon themselves to go to the public library to read about him, only to be faced with a librarian who not only does not applaud or foster their attempt at independent learning, but actively discourages it by not wanting to let them get a library card.
This attitude of enduring rather than curing is mirrored in the community as a whole. Everyone knows what the situation is- they talk about it constantly- but no one is willing to do anything to change it, other than engage in some seasonal giving. The community gives the Herdmans charity, and the back of their hand. The church does no better... they make up gift baskets to give them, but this treats the symptoms, not the disease. Of course, giving food packages is much easier- and less costly- than giving personal involvement. Despite this rather grim foundation, the story itself is not dark. Nor does it become treacle-y. On the contrary, the tale moves along, briskly unsentimental, and the Herdman's situation provides a spring board for most of the humour.
It is no doubt this complacency and lack of actual thought which blinds them to the irony of their behaviour; while staging a play which bemoans the fact that the people of Bethlehem would make no room for the weary Holy Family, the church is itself reluctant to find a place for the unwanted outcasts of their own community. In the end, while there is no resolution of any of the Herdmans actual problems, a bridge has been built- however tenuously- between them. At least now they are seen as individuals who, though troubled and troublesome, have definite value and worth.