Rumble Fish by: S.E Hinton Comparative essay by Jack Letterick, A block The book “Rumble Fish” by S.E Hinton is a novel about a man named Rusty James who runs into his old friend Steve on a beach, the majority of the book is a flashback of Rusty and Steve's adventures when they were kids which mostly involve Rusty getting himself into trouble and Steve trying to keep Rusty out of trouble. Steve and Rusty are best friends even though they are complete opposites, they have been best friends for as long as either of them can remember. Rusty and Steve are such good friends because since they are polar opposites Rustys street rep keeps steve safe from bullies that would want to pick on him also with steve being super school smart he helps …show more content…
Rusty with all his school work and he also keeps Rusty out of trouble. Some specific scenes when steve helped Rusty are when Rusty is up to no good and is stealing the hubcaps off a car Steve sees the car owners walking around the corner and warns Rusty, this gives Rusty a plentiful head start which helps him make his narrow escape. Steve on numerous occasions also helps Rusty with his school work and at one point in the novel Rusty says that Steve is the reason he hasn't dropped out already. In the novel steve is described as one of the smallest and skinniest kids in his and Rusty's grade Where Rusty is described as the biggest, strongest and toughest kid in the grade. Steve is also described as one of the smartest kids in the school and Rusty is not very smart in school but he is very street smart. There are alot of quotes in the book that talk about the differences between Rusty and Steve. This quote is from when Rusty was introducing Steve to the audience for the first time (page 9) “Steve was fourteen, like me. He looked twelve and acted forty. He was my best friend, though, so he could say stuff that i wouldn't let anybody else get away with. “Dammit, Rusty James, we haven't had any trouble like that in a long time now.” he was scared it was going to end up in a gang fight. There hadn't been a real honest to goodness gang fight around here in years. As far as i knew, Steve had never been in one. I could never understand people being scared of things they didnt know nothing about. “You don't have to be there i said,” I said. Everybody else had to b there to protect there rep. Steve didn't have any rep. He was my best friend. That was his rep.” I chose this quote because it has a lot of insight on the kind of person Steve is but it also lets the audience know alot about Rusty James such as the grammar he uses lets the reader infer that he is not very good in school and the fact that he says he has been in gang fights and the fact that Steve could gain a rep just for being Rusty James best friend lets the reader know how much Rusty is respected by all his peers. Another quote that explains Rusty James and Steve's friendship is when Rusty thinks “ i wondered why steve was my best friend. I let him hang around and kept people from beating him up and listened to all his worries. God, did that kid worry about things! I did all that for him and sometimes he did my math homework and let me copy his history stuff, so i never flunked a grade. But i didn't care about flunking, so that wasn't why he was my best friend. Maybe it was because i had known him for longer than i’d known anybody i wasn't related to. For a tough kid i had a bad habit of getting attached to people.” (pages 13-14) I chose this quote because it has some insight to the fact that Rusty James is not so tough after all because even though he doesnt know why he is friends with Steve he sticks by him throughout the book. There are also quotes that talk about the environment they both lived in. Some of the quotes that talk about where/how they were raised are when Rusty tells the audience “we turned into the ally that ran alongside the pet store.
We turned into the alley that ran alongside of it, crawled through a hole in the back fence and came out onto the vacant lot that led right down to the river. The lot was damp and it stank. The area around here always stinks from that river, but it's worse in the lot . further down , a bunch of plants and factories dump their garbage into the water. You don't notice the stink if you live there awhile. It's just extra strong in that lot.”(page 21). This quote lets the audience infer that the town Rusty James and Steve live in is very poor because of the stink and how it is filled with factories. Another quote is when rusty narrates “ My father talked funny. Hed been to college. Law school. I never told anybody because nobody would believe it. It was hard for me to believe it myself. I didn't think people who went to law school turned into drunks on welfare.”(page 56). In this quote it tells us the kind of role model Rusty's father is and it helps us realise how Rusty has became who he is. A quote about Steves home life is “what happened to you? I was supposed to be home at ten o'clock last night, he said flatly. I got in at six this morning. Your father did that? I couldn't believe it ive come out of gang fights looking better than he did.” this quote is the first time the reader finds out that Steve has an abusive father, this affects the plot because it could be the reason Steve was so quiet and never wanted to do anything
wrong. Those are the reasons why Rusty James and Steve are complete opposites in every way, even after reading this book i am amazed that they are such good friends since they have nothing in common. This novel is a classic example of the old saying “opposites attract”.
When he is young, he was bullied in school because he is nerd like. He doesn’t have many friends and he doesn’t fight back. Also when he grows up, he is hit by the three rednecks because Corso just speaks Yankee speech. When he is in the hospital, he thinks for the first time in his life that he wants to fight back and he didn’t care what he would uses. He buys a revolver but he didn’t kill the rednecks because he dreads the rednecks and the policemen. Now, Corso is the guy who killed the 2 policemen. When Corso has Andrew as his hostage, he sorts of take care of him. Then they hide in the woods and Corso tries to rid him. However, he can’t do it. When he is going to kill him, Lieutenant Tawney comes and Corso gets shot. It is a tragedy that a weak person is changed by the people who bully him. Being a murderer is the effect of bullying him.
One of the main themes throughout the book is family. While teenage Dan is attending school, seeing Chantelle and working for eddy he still has a massive responsibility at home. As Dan's dad was very kept to himself Dan has to step up and become the father figure in the family, this meant looking after young Toby and helping him grow up, helping mum with problems, cleaning around the house and dealing with moody Kat. As the father, Steve, was not present while
In the high criminal neighborhood where the other Wes lived, people who live there need a positive role model or a mentor to lead them to a better future. Usually the older family members are the person they can look up to. The other Wes’s mother was not there when the other Wes felt perplexed about his future and needed her to support and give him advises. Even though the other Wes’s mother moved around and tried to keep the other Wes from bad influences in the neighborhood, still, the other Wes dropped out of school and ended up in the prison. While the author Wes went to the private school every day with his friend Justin; the other Wes tried to skip school with his friend Woody. Moore says, “Wes had no intention of going to school. He was supposed to meet Woody later – they were going to skip school with some friends, stay at Wes’s house, and have a cookout” (59). This example shows that at the time the other Wes was not interested in school. Because Mary was busy at work, trying to support her son’s education, she had no time and energy to look after the other Wes. For this reason, she did not know how the other Wes was doing at school and had no idea that he was escaping school. She missed the opportunities to intervene in her son’s life and put him on the right track. Moreover, when the author was in the military school, the other Wes was dealing drugs to people in the streets and was already the father of a child. The incident that made the other Wes drop out of school was when he had a conflict with a guy. The other Wes was dating with the girl without knowing that she had a boyfriend. One night, her boyfriend found out her relationship with the other Wes and had a fight with him. During the fight, the other Wes chased the guy and shot him. The guy was injured and the other Wes was arrested
“The dirt got into their noses, making it hard to breathe.” (Line 24) This reveals more about the hostile and uninhabitable environment. Also, it states “She felt suddenly naked and bald, for her hair had been nesting softly and warmly on the back of her neck.” (Lines 36-38). This gives us an idea how Lutie feels in this new setting. “Fingering it way along the curb, the wind set the bits of paper to dancing Hugh in the air, so that a barrage of paper swirled into the faces if the people on the street.” (lines 15-18). This shows the impact that the surrounding environment have on the people and objects. Lutie sees her surrounding as bothersome and
In chapter one we are introduced to our narrator, Ponyboy. Ponyboy is raised by his two older brothers Darry and Soda. They’re all apart of a gang called the “greasers” which is joined by Dally, Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve. There is another group called “ socs” which stands for socials, and everyone in that group is very wealthy. One day Ponyboy got jumped by a socs group, but luckily Darry was there to help before anything too serious happened. The first element of literature is characterization. Ponyboy is a keen observer, trying to make sense of the complexities of those around him. At the beginning of the story, he stops and spends several pages giving us brief character description on Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny. This is also known as direct characterization. He tells us that Steve is "cocky and smart" ( Hinton 9). Two-Bit can 't stop joking around and goes to school for "kicks" (Hinton 10) rather than to learn. Dallas, he says, is "tougher, colder, meaner" ( Hinton 10) than the rest of them.
They deal with rat infestations, eviction, and poverty day by day. As the story goes on, Bigger’s mother constantly nags him about getting a job, and providing for his family. This causes Bigger to hate his family and hate his life because of the fact that they are so poor, and he can’t do anything to help them.
He teaches the kid what to do in order to successfully reel in a large, beautiful fish. Ironically, the narrator is the one who learns from the kid in the end. At the beginning of the story, everything is described negatively, from the description of the kid as a “lumpy little guy with baggy shorts” to his “stupid-looking ’50s-style wrap-around sunglasses” and “beat-up rod”(152). Through his encounter with the boy, the narrator is able to see life in a different way, most notable from how he describes the caught tarpon as heavy, silvery white, and how it also has beautiful red fins (154). Through the course of the story, the narrator’s pessimistic attitude changes to an optimistic one, and this change reveals how inspiring this exchange between two strangers is. This story as a whole reveals that learning also revolves around interactions between other people, not only between people and their natural surroundings and
In 1831, Asian carp were brought over as a delicacy. Asian carp are originally from Asia (Barbara A. Somervill 13). They were imported by catfish farmers in 1963 for federal research on controlling aquatic vegetation. In 1966, the first Asian carp had escaped into Arkansas waters. By 1970, grass carp we're being stocked in Arkansas waters to help with over vegetation. In 1972, big head carp were brought in the United States by a fish farmer in Arkansas to improve his water quality and fish production. In 1973, silver carp were introduced for phytoplankton control (Watershed Council 1). Over time, they were brought over for different reasons and made their way into many of the United States waters. The federal government had transported the invasive species to help the waters but, they did not realize the bad effects that the fish would have on the future environment. People need to find a way to stop them before it’s too late. Their rapid breeding has had a great toll on the environment and is still affecting it today. Over population can destroy the environment
Walter, however, was taken advantage of due to his naive nature of believing as a black man that he could become rich. Walter has the ideal life planned out for his family because he has the dream of being able to provide for them and become rich, for example sending Travis off to any college of his choosing. One of these dreams aso includes being able to live in the house that Mama plans on having the family move into. The Younger family believed that they were going to get the house, but a man of the name Mr. Lindner attempts to stop the family from moving in and crush their dreams by not wanting them to move into the new neighborhood. This was solely due to the Youngers race and was very oppressive for Walter and all of his dreams that he had planned out. Mr. Lindner explains to the family that, “It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities” (Hansberry 100). Since the neighborhood doesn’t want the Younger family based on their race, they are making Walter realize his American Dream for his family very difficult to be obtained since he has imagined so many good things to happen. This oppressive and racist views from Mr. Lindner and the new community emphasize the setback
The film chronicles the histories of three fathers, and manages to relates and link their events and situations. First is Mitchell Stephens and his relationship with his drug-addict daughter. Second is Sam, and the secret affair he is having with his young daughter Nicole. He is somewhat of a narcissistic character because of his preoccupation with himself and pleasing himself, and his lack of empathy throughout the film for the others in the town. Third is Billy, who loves his two children so much that he follows behind the school bus every day waving at them. Billy is also having an affair with a married woman who owns the town’s only motel. On the exterior the town is an average place with good people just living their lives. But, beneath all the small town simplicity is a web of lies and secrets, some which must be dealt with in the face of this tragedy.
While the other boys in the community played with slingshots and haunted neighbour’s windows, porch flowers pots, and the lights that shone near harm any animals and were considered good mannered. As the boy gets older he begins to get into trouble by stealing and drinking, he dropped out of school even though he was a topper of his class, after he spent a few days with a “better off family” during his hockey trip. But now he was stealing almost anything he could get his hands on and selling it to second hand shops and was continually getting caught.
Joe is considered an average man with big dreams before arriving at the town. After taking control as mayor his whole demeanor changed. Using a banker as inspiration Joe becomes someone solely focused on image and being above the other people in the town. The life he claims as is own is nothing but a façade with Janie as an ornament. Joes view on what Janies role was going to be was clear from the beginning he believed that a “pretty baby-doll lak you is made to sit on de front porch” making it clear that Janie is a valuable thing not a person (Hurston 29). Joe’s continues the show he is giving the town until Janie tires of them and embarrasses him on the stage he has built in front of his entire audience. The destruction of the façade that has been created over the years causes him to self-destruct, literally. His image is everything to him and once it is ruined he has nothing to live for anymore. The people he believed were below him now laugh at and no longer take him seriously. His life solely depended on keeping him self above the other people in his community without that ability he no longer had anything to live for. As shown in Larsen’s novel living with this idea of classism sometimes goes hand in hand with a struggle with
Around the city Hancock’s self image is a super human who’s always drunk, and arrogant. He’s very destructive to the city as he help stop crimes. The citizens are tired of him and his shitty attitude so they call him an “asshole”. Hancock’s lack of self worth affects him because he feels abandon. In one scene Hancock said, “I have nobody” (Goldsman A, Lassiter J, Mann M, Smith W & Berg, P. 2008). In another scene Hancock had said, “Gotta wonder, though. What kind of bastard must I have been, that nobody was there to claim me?” (Goldsman et al 2008).
Bobby and his friends decided to vandalize the boys car by busting the windshield, knocking out the headlight, hitting the side of the car with a sledge hammer and throwing trash in the car through the broken windshield. Meanwhile the narrator is in the lake thinking about how foolish him and his friends were being on that night. He began to think about jail cells, police, court and his mom car and how was he going to explain everything to the cops and his family. . “Then he began to think again but this time he thinks about the dead man saying to himself “ He was probably the only person on the planet worst off than I was”(Boyle 172). The narrator begins to realize that many he does want to be a bad guy after all
Otis sat at his tattered corner booth, the pale pink and teal upholstery ripped and worn by all those who had rested there before him. His charcoal-grey hair was oily and unkept as if he hadn’t known the pleasure of a shower or a comb since his early days in the war. His once green army jacket, faded to a light grey, covered the untucked, torn, and sweat-stained Goodwill T-shirt under it. He wore an old pair of denim blue jeans that were shredded in the knees and rested three inches above his boney ankles; exposing the charity he depended upon. His eyes, filled with loneliness and despair as if he had realized a lack of purpose in his life, were set in bags of black and purple rings two layers deep. His long, slender nose was set above a full crooked mouth with little lines at the corners giving his face the character of someone who used to smile often, but the firm set of his square jaw revealed a portrait of a man who knew only failure.