Hinton's Challenges In The Outsiders And The Lord Of The Flies

In the books The Outsiders and The Lord of the Flies, Hinton’s and Golding’s approaches to the themes of challenges, choices, conformity all contrast. For example, in The Outsiders, Hinton’s approach to challenges contrast Golding’s plot and the way they affect the story. One of the challenges Ponyboy faces is the fact that his parents are dead and his oldest brother, Darry, is supporting the family. On page 3, Ponyboy says, “Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave.” (Hinton 3). They struggle to make ends meet and Ponyboy knows this. He also feels the weight of the class separation between him and his friends, his family, and the ‘socs’. He notices the kids around him who get into trouble with the law, treat school like a joke, and even those like Darry who have everything they need to succeed but didn't have the money to take advantage of hard work and their own talents. Ponyboy also faces the challenges that arise when he is with Johnny when he kills Bob and then witnesses Johnny do something heroic before he passes away. He worries about whether he will get in trouble for Bob's death, and also struggles with seeing people close to him like Johnny and Dally die. It is difficult for him to see a way out of these troubles when it seems like everyone he knows ends up in

Once they were banded together, they had to face the primary issues of finding clean water, food, and shelter. On page 30, Simon says, “‘I’m hungry.’ When Simon mentioned his hunger the others became aware of theirs. ‘Come on,’ said Ralph. ‘We’ve found out what we wanted to know’.” (Golding 30). The older boys had to face learning how to care for the group as a whole. They had lived with adult supervision and always had things they needed. Now, not only do they have to pay attention to their own needs, but also those of the younger