Common Themes In The Outsiders And Black Boy

Most or if not all stories contain a central idea or a theme. These themes can provide insightful lessons or advice that can be learned by the reader. This is especially seen in the classic book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton and Black Boy by Richard Wright, both stories contain themes or a central idea that really plays a role into the story. A theme is a usually seen as a unifying or a dominant central idea. These themes can be shown in significant events or many other things such as a main character choosing the right decision. Both authors, Hinton and Wright ,both have a common theme and have similar ways to help develop the theme “Sometimes life events cause a person to lose his/her innocence.”

Hinton’s The Outsiders her own way of developing

In The Outsiders,main character Ponyboy is living without his mother and father who sadly perished in a horrific car accident, he is instead living in a gang with 2 of his brothers and friends. The main event of them losing their parents really did change them and made them lose their innocence. That main event cause a spiraling of other events the sadly lead to them being a greaser and a delinquent. The Outsiders develops the theme through the significant events. From Ponyboy losing his parents,to Ponyboy losing his friend Johnny, Hinton builds the theme through these events. The theme “Sometimes life events cause a person to lose his/her innocence” is shown in Bob’s murder. As Johnny was forced to stab Bob and kill him,this was not all the intent. Johnny had to act before Ponyboy would drown.This event had made them not only lose their innocence but also murderers by killing a Social.The event was developed through the encounter with the Socials,when Johnny is reminded of how he was beaten. This event made them realize what taking a life really is and how it affects you. Ponyboy and Johnny were almost scarred by this event,making them cold and hard from this event. This theme is also shown in Johnny Cade’s death. Losing a close person in your life,such as a close friend

His mother on that day taught him a very important lesson alone. That is how to stand up for himself. His mother forced him to get the groceries,even with him crying and whimpering,she said no and forced him how to stand up for himself and get the groceries. While teaching him this,she tells him to fight them and not back down. He listens and when he is met by the same gang for the 3rd time,he was not only victorious but,his innocence was lost. This important event,which might have changed his life made him lose his innocence. He fought violently against the gang of kids and fought with almost no sympathy. “They closed in. In blind fear I let the stick fly, feeling it crack against a boy’s skull. I swung again, lamming another skull, then another.”This shows that he lost his innocence here,when he was forced to defend himself and fight for himself and his own safety. This theme is developed in the event when he is forced to continuously go back to get the groceries. Another event where this theme is shown is when the little boy and his sibling sat down and listened to their mother speak after her long hard shifts. The kids were mostly left confused and as shown in text “dread vague.” These talks had left the small children confused and with more questions. This had made them lose their innocence, with this, they learned how hard their