Character Analysis
Married to the Mam
Tom's parents started this whole thing. Well, they had Tom, but that's not exactly what we're talking about. Tom is significant because he's the seventh son of a seventh son. Other than the fact that he's a seventh son, though, Tom's dad doesn't have much significance. We don't even learn his name. (Maybe he's Jack White?)
Tom suspects that his Mam "only married my dad and had my six brothers so she could give birth to me." (1.84) If that's true, no wonder we don't learn much about poor dad. He's little more than a glorified sperm donor. What's up with that, do you think?
Mam's Got Magic
Tom's Mam really is the one that wears the pants in the family. "It was [Mam's] money that had bought our farm. [...] She came from a land far across the sea." (1.9) She not only has the money, she has the power.
She can see ghosts and quiet noisy spirits, like the hanging soldiers on Hangman's Hill. She can do things that even the Spook doesn't believe are possible. So why isn't she the Spook?
We assume it's one of those jobs that women need not apply to. We think, then, that Mam had to have Tom in order for her gift to benefit the world at large.