Outsiders Compare And Contrast Essay

Themes, thoughts, ideas, in every writing piece there are some. In both “Poverty and Wealth” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox and the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, there are similar themes. The Outsiders is about the story of the greasers and the socs. One is rich and one is poor. The rich and the poor, the greasers and the socs, they are all similar.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. The stereotypical greaser is a hood, or “JD” as they like to say. They are “mean” and “low” humans. But, when we meet Ponyboy we are showed that you should not judge a book by its cover because Ponyboy is different. “You read a lot, don’t you, Ponyboy?” Greasers don’t usually read, so when they do it is a surprise to the other greasers. The stereotypical Soc is a “rich” and

“snotty” jerk. They think they are better than everyone else. But Cherry Valance is different than the “normal” Soc. “Nobody but Soda could really get me talking. Till I met Cherry Valance.” Ponyboy says that Cherry is different than the Socs he has met. He can talk to her without a problem, and she can do the same. This theme relates to the poem because, rich or poor, greaser or soc, you are yourself. You have your own personality.

Not everyone is the same.

Greasers have all different personalities. They can be mean, kind, shy, or wise. They are never the same. “Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don’t mean I do things like that.” Ponyboy says here that typical greasers are hoods, but that he doesn’t do things like they do. He is different. Socs are also all different. Some can be kind, smart, helpful, or even jerks. None of them are the same, they just try to fit in. “I was half-scared of her. I’m half-scared of all nice girls, especially Socs.” Ponyboy says here that he is normally scared of Soc girls. But, with Cherry it is different. She isn’t a normal Soc. This theme relates to the poem because, you have social classes, and stereotypes but nobody is the

same.

Learn your consequences.

Johnny, the pet of the gang, killed someone. When Ponyboy was getting jumped by Bob, he stabbed him. “You really killed him, huh, Johnny.” After they killed Bob, Ponyboy and Johnny ran away. They knew that they didn’t want to get caught by the cops and face their consequences, so they ran. At the same time though, the Socs lost a friend. Bob’s parents lost their son. “Bob, the handsome Soc, was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still.” This is a consequence for trying to drown Ponyboy, and trying to beat Johnny up. Johnny did it in self defense. The Socs now know what it is like to face a consequence, after all this time tormenting the greasers. This theme relates to the poem because, when both the rich man and the poor man die, they die in a different way. “The rich man died like a beast and returned to the sod.” “The poor man lightened his labor, and helped him to die, with a smile on his lips and a hope in his eye.” The rich man almost died in agony, and the poor man died after living a happy

life.

In conclusion, there are many different themes that relate to both “Poverty and Wealth” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox and the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They relate to situations and characters in both writing pieces. They have an affect on how they story plays out, and what happens in the story. Everyone is not the same, and stereotypes aren’t always true.