Author’s Note: This essay is about defying stereotypes which is one of the themes in the book The Outsiders and real world examples.
11/21/11
Nick Majeskie
There are many stereotypes in the world today. Examples are nerds, age, and looks. People are stereotypical about nerds because we think they are always on their computers either playing a game or hacking something. I know some people that consider themselves nerds but, they aren’t going around hacking items. The socs and the greasers are both being stereotyped in the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hilton. Defying stereotypes is one of the main themes. You can’t always find the truth about people by stereotyping them.
In the book there were two types of groups; the greasers and the socs. The greasers are stereotyped because people think the average greaser is a delinquent kid and they are considered the outcasts because they live on the wrong side of the neighborhood. One way they were stereotyped in the book was at the beginning of the book, where Randy said “Greasers are just white trash”. This is stereotypical because one character named Ponyboy is considered a greaser but, he isn’t the stereotypical greaser. He is kind and intelligent, not rugged and dirty. The book indicated that Ponyboy was very intelligent in language arts. If he were a stereotypical greaser, he wouldn’t care about school.
The other group is the socs. They are stereotyped by the greasers. The greasers think they are stuck up snobs that get what they want and are wealthy. They are stereotyped because they are more affluent. An example in the book is when the socs are stereotyped by the greasers when Ponyboy yells “WELL, SOCS ARE WHITE TRASH WITH MUSTANGS”; he says this right before Johnny kills Bob. Meaning they have money because they drive mustangs. One character that proves that they are stereotyped is Cherry, who is a soc. She is pleasant and brilliant and not stuck up like a stereotypical soc. This is proven when Ponyboy is amazed when they are talking to them and don’t leave.
There are many people that are stereotyped in the book The Outsiders, but people aren’t just being stereotyped in the book; there are people in the real world being stereotyped. One example is when people are judged by where they live. If they live in an affluent neighborhood, people assume they are rich. Conversely, if they live in a neighborhood that has smaller homes, it is assumed they are poor.
One example for me is when I walked into a shoe store with my brother who is only a year older than me. We started to look at shoes. When I reached for a box to try the shoes on, the clerk yelled at me and said, “Hey, you have to pay for that”, and started to walk towards me. This proves I was judged by the clerk because he thought I was going to steal the pair of shoes because I look young.
Finally, there are plentiful ways people are being stereotyped by other people. This happens in books, movies, and real world examples like when I went into the shoe store. The only reason people are stereotyped is because the people judging have seen the same scenario before and they jump to the conclusion before that person being judged can do anything about it. It is best to give people a chance before you jump to conclusions, but sometimes that easier said than done.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Definition of Family
11/15/11
Nick Majeskie
Author’s Note: This story is about one of the main themes in this story; which is definition of family.
There are many themes in the book “The Outsiders”, written by S.E. Hinton. The themes are defying stereotypes, definition of family, and loss of innocence. The one I’m focusing on is definition of family. The reasons I’m doing this is because it seems to me that in most movies now a days there aren’t parents or they are crazy parents. One example is the Fairy Odd Parents. The main characters name is Timmy and he has these really awkward parents and never notice all the magic going on from his Fairy’s, so where are all the parents?
In the book “The Outsiders”, the main characters names are Ponyboy and Johnny. They both are considered greasers and outcasts. They are the youngest members in the greaser’s gang. Another thing they have in common is their families. They both come from broken families and they don’t have a good life at home. They both have guardians that yell at them and don’t get along well with each other.
Ponyboy’s family likes him and protects him from the harmful stuff in the world. The main issues with his family are his parents are dead. The parents of Ponyboy died from a horrible car accident so Ponyboy’s family is his two older brothers. His two older brother’s names are Sodapop and Darry Curtis. Sodapop is the middle brother and is the more caring brother and is very laid back. One quote in the book for Sodapop is “Hey there Pony, were ya been?”, he said in a sleepy voice (pg. 45), when Ponyboy came home way too late. This quote shows how Sodapop is way more laid back. Then there is the oldest brother Darry. Darry is more of a firm person and sometimes gets cranky on his youngest brother Ponyboy. A quote for Darry is, “WHERE IN THE ALMIGHTY UNIVERSE WERE YOU?” he yelled (pg.45). This quote shows how Darry can be a cranky to his little brother. Both brothers care deeply for Ponyboy. They just show their care in different ways.
Johnny’s family is worse than Ponyboy’s. Johnny has a family with a mom and dad but, that isn’t a good thing. His parents beat him especially his dad and yell at him. When Johnny was in the hospital from what happened to him at the church he thought the only reason his mom would show up is to nag on him for getting hurt at the church. Early in the book Johnny said, “It isn’t the same when you old folk don’t care about ya”, he said this when Ponyboy told him he had it all and that the gang loved him because he was the gang’s pet member. What I think this means is he doesn’t care about something unless his parents care about the same thing, but they don’t seem to care about anything he does. Sadly, Johnny dies without ever experiencing his parent’s love.
Finally, there are many more movies or books that have the same issues with the main characters. In this book it was more obvious because that was what all they talked about in the ending of the book. This proves that the definition of family means a lot to the characters of the book.
Nick Majeskie
Author’s Note: This story is about one of the main themes in this story; which is definition of family.
There are many themes in the book “The Outsiders”, written by S.E. Hinton. The themes are defying stereotypes, definition of family, and loss of innocence. The one I’m focusing on is definition of family. The reasons I’m doing this is because it seems to me that in most movies now a days there aren’t parents or they are crazy parents. One example is the Fairy Odd Parents. The main characters name is Timmy and he has these really awkward parents and never notice all the magic going on from his Fairy’s, so where are all the parents?
In the book “The Outsiders”, the main characters names are Ponyboy and Johnny. They both are considered greasers and outcasts. They are the youngest members in the greaser’s gang. Another thing they have in common is their families. They both come from broken families and they don’t have a good life at home. They both have guardians that yell at them and don’t get along well with each other.
Ponyboy’s family likes him and protects him from the harmful stuff in the world. The main issues with his family are his parents are dead. The parents of Ponyboy died from a horrible car accident so Ponyboy’s family is his two older brothers. His two older brother’s names are Sodapop and Darry Curtis. Sodapop is the middle brother and is the more caring brother and is very laid back. One quote in the book for Sodapop is “Hey there Pony, were ya been?”, he said in a sleepy voice (pg. 45), when Ponyboy came home way too late. This quote shows how Sodapop is way more laid back. Then there is the oldest brother Darry. Darry is more of a firm person and sometimes gets cranky on his youngest brother Ponyboy. A quote for Darry is, “WHERE IN THE ALMIGHTY UNIVERSE WERE YOU?” he yelled (pg.45). This quote shows how Darry can be a cranky to his little brother. Both brothers care deeply for Ponyboy. They just show their care in different ways.
Johnny’s family is worse than Ponyboy’s. Johnny has a family with a mom and dad but, that isn’t a good thing. His parents beat him especially his dad and yell at him. When Johnny was in the hospital from what happened to him at the church he thought the only reason his mom would show up is to nag on him for getting hurt at the church. Early in the book Johnny said, “It isn’t the same when you old folk don’t care about ya”, he said this when Ponyboy told him he had it all and that the gang loved him because he was the gang’s pet member. What I think this means is he doesn’t care about something unless his parents care about the same thing, but they don’t seem to care about anything he does. Sadly, Johnny dies without ever experiencing his parent’s love.
Finally, there are many more movies or books that have the same issues with the main characters. In this book it was more obvious because that was what all they talked about in the ending of the book. This proves that the definition of family means a lot to the characters of the book.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Fix your Life
11/9/11
Nick Majeskie
Author’s Note: This is a letter to Johnny on why he shouldn’t have killed Bob the soc.
Dear Johnny,
I’m writing to you because I witnessed you kill a soc. I witnessed this when I left Buck’s house to go find my wallet at the fountain. I picked it up, and then I heard Ponyboy wailing something about Darry, so I decided to say hi to you but, then the malicious mustang came. So I hid on the other side of the fountain and watched you guys fight the socs and saw that you killed one. Once I saw this, I darted back to Buck’s house for the party and you guys showed up looking for Dally. It was then that I understood you were running from the cops. So the main reason I’m writing to you, is to tell you that you should have done things differently.
At the drive in you disgusted me by making them mad by picking up their girlfriends. That is when this whole fight started. You could have went at this a different way but, you chose to kill. You should have gone for help, because maybe Bob wouldn’t have died. You should have gone to the police first because now you are in bigger trouble for running. I know you got beaten up by Bob before but, now you are screwed because you are running from the cops.
Ponyboy’s brothers stopped at my house looking for you guys. You could have just wounded Bob and scared the rest off instead of killing him. In addition for them coming after you, you had to run away to stay away from the cops. Also you ran away to a church and set it on fire! Everything went downhill since you killed the soc. What were you thinking?
I was completely shocked that you, of any one killed him. I know that was the soc that beat you up but, now you are running away from the cops because you’re in deep trouble. Once the police catch up to you, they are going to throw you in jail. Trust me if you wanted to create a decent life for yourself, you shouldn’t have killed him. Now you may face the rest of your life in jail. You may never be able to live the American dream. You may never have a wife, family or a job to support yourself or family. Since you ran away to the church, the pole fell on you and now you are paralyzed for the rest of your life. Even if you don’t get caught by the police, the socs are going to come after you because Bob was one of their numerous leaders. Do you want to always be on the run, hiding from the socs and police? How can you be on the run when you are paralyzed?
Johnny, you should have been honest and not lived in fear. If you would have chosen honesty and integrity, you would not have ruined your life. And that, is exactly what you have done with your choices. It baffles me on why you made these choices. You have terminated your life by making bad choices. You were very absurd with your choices. There will be tremendous suffering in your life because of what has happened. Now it is time to make a good choice and figure out how to turn your life around.
Sincerely,
A greaser
Nick Majeskie
Author’s Note: This is a letter to Johnny on why he shouldn’t have killed Bob the soc.
Dear Johnny,
I’m writing to you because I witnessed you kill a soc. I witnessed this when I left Buck’s house to go find my wallet at the fountain. I picked it up, and then I heard Ponyboy wailing something about Darry, so I decided to say hi to you but, then the malicious mustang came. So I hid on the other side of the fountain and watched you guys fight the socs and saw that you killed one. Once I saw this, I darted back to Buck’s house for the party and you guys showed up looking for Dally. It was then that I understood you were running from the cops. So the main reason I’m writing to you, is to tell you that you should have done things differently.
At the drive in you disgusted me by making them mad by picking up their girlfriends. That is when this whole fight started. You could have went at this a different way but, you chose to kill. You should have gone for help, because maybe Bob wouldn’t have died. You should have gone to the police first because now you are in bigger trouble for running. I know you got beaten up by Bob before but, now you are screwed because you are running from the cops.
Ponyboy’s brothers stopped at my house looking for you guys. You could have just wounded Bob and scared the rest off instead of killing him. In addition for them coming after you, you had to run away to stay away from the cops. Also you ran away to a church and set it on fire! Everything went downhill since you killed the soc. What were you thinking?
I was completely shocked that you, of any one killed him. I know that was the soc that beat you up but, now you are running away from the cops because you’re in deep trouble. Once the police catch up to you, they are going to throw you in jail. Trust me if you wanted to create a decent life for yourself, you shouldn’t have killed him. Now you may face the rest of your life in jail. You may never be able to live the American dream. You may never have a wife, family or a job to support yourself or family. Since you ran away to the church, the pole fell on you and now you are paralyzed for the rest of your life. Even if you don’t get caught by the police, the socs are going to come after you because Bob was one of their numerous leaders. Do you want to always be on the run, hiding from the socs and police? How can you be on the run when you are paralyzed?
Johnny, you should have been honest and not lived in fear. If you would have chosen honesty and integrity, you would not have ruined your life. And that, is exactly what you have done with your choices. It baffles me on why you made these choices. You have terminated your life by making bad choices. You were very absurd with your choices. There will be tremendous suffering in your life because of what has happened. Now it is time to make a good choice and figure out how to turn your life around.
Sincerely,
A greaser
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